Monster
by Fahad09
Summary: Being Re-posted under new name : A World Full Of Monsters
1. Chapter 1: Birth

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (shocking isn't it?), just the original concepts and plot in this story. Cover image owned by Mazzat.**

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**Chapter 1: The Fabled Eyes**

"Will you damn brats keep it down?" The living legend grumbled, his eyes never leaving the tiny hole in the fence that granted him an unobstructed view to the women's hot springs. "What are you going to do if I get caught?"

I stared at the Sannin, my mouth unable to form words as my mind shut down, incapable of comprehending what my eyes was seeing.

Naruto however had no such problem.

"Wait, are you peeping at the girl's hot spring? You-you-you..." Naruto's voice grew steadily louder, filled with a growing indignation and righteous fury. Pointing at the white haired ninja, Naruto all but screeched. "-YOU PERVERT!"

"Pervert?" The Sannin turned his head to look at us, an offended look on his face. "Did you just call me a Pervert? I'll have you know you little brat, that I'm far more than a mere Pervert." He rose up from his crouch, crossing his arms and puffing his chest out as he did so.

"For I am Jiraiya!" Raising his left palm at us, he widened his feet and took a sideways stance. "One of the three Legendary Sannin, S-Ranked Ninja, veteran of two wars, a lover of beautiful women everywhere, author of the famed Icha Icha series and above all else," He slammed his hand onto the floor, releasing a large puff of white smoke that quickly dissipated, revealing him standing on a large orange and blue toad. "I am a Super Pervert!" He announced out with shameless pride.

Beside me, Naruto gaped at the self-proclaimed super pervert as he took up a pose on the toad after his grandiose introduction, a hand pointed straight up in the sky while the other rested on his hip. He wore a satisfied smirked as he looked down at us from the toad's back.

"Sa-Sannin? You mean _the _Sannin?" Naruto took a step backwards in pure shock, eyes widening with disbelief. The Nine-tailed Jinchuriki's shook his head in denial. "Ne-ne, Hikaru. The old geezer is lying right? There is no way that this pervert could be a Sannin, right? Right?

"…Hikaru?" The confusion in Naruto's voice was clear to anyone listening. I felt a tugging on my sleeve as the blond tried to get my attention. "Hey Hikaru what's wrong? Your face is turning all white? Hey! Answer me damn it, you're scaring me here. Hikaru? Hikaru!"

I could hear how the confusion quickly turned to worry and then panic when I didn't reply, but I could not bring myself to care. Not when my worst fears were beginning to come true. No, no, please no. Dear God not him too! Not another one.

But no matter how hard I tried to reject it, the reality before me would not change. And soon my denials began to fade, steadily replaced with a growing sense of horror as the truth of what I was seeing became irrefutable.

For there before my very eyes stood Jiraiya, but not as I knew him. His hair was a just as I remembered it, a spiky mess of white that stretched past his waist, and his clothing too was the same, a short green kimono with matching coloured pants covered by a red coat.

All in all, he was exactly like he should have been. Exact for one tiny detail.

The distinctive bulging in his chest was certainly _not _supposed to be there.

"Ho~," A smirk making its way to Jiraiya's face as _she_ followed my line of sight to her breasts, "Sorry Kid, I ain't into men or little brats for that matter." Misinterpreting my horror with fascination. "Can't blame you for having good taste though."

Yes, Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, rival to Orochimaru, teacher to the fourth Hokage, and one of this world's living legends, was a Girl.

My knees gave way beneath me, depositing onto the hard wet floor that surrounded the hot spring. Vaguely, I heard Naruto calling out to me in concern, but over my despair it sounded like it came from a thousand miles away. I just stared at him-_her,_ misery building up inside of me until I could not hold it in any longer. So I tossed my head back and howled out to the world.

"_Oh Dear god Why? Why him too? Kishimoto you bastard!"_

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At first I could not understand what was going on.

In those first few weeks and months, or however long it was, the world was nothing but a confusing blend of colors and noise, of shivering cold followed by comforting warmth. My mind refused to function properly. It was as if I was in a fevered dream, the few thoughts I could form were nothing but a jumbled up mess that followed no rhyme or reason.

Not that it would have done me any good even had I been able think, as I couldn't even stay awake long enough for it to matter. Back then my consciousness was a fleeting thing, coming and going like the tide. Sometimes I would feel myself rousing, my mind on the brink of truly waking up, only to fade back into the embrace of slumber before I could begin to comprehend anything, dragged back by the perpetual tiredness I felt.

Then one day I simply woke up.

And nothing made sense.

Above me, staring at me with those pale eyes of theirs, something straight out of my childhood stories, was a man and a woman. They loomed over me, appearing like giants to my new infant eyes. At the sight of them, a name instantly popped into my mind.

_Hyuuga._

They gibbered in a language I could not understand or even recognize. Though it sounded vaguely Asian it wasn't Japanese. I spoke the language it definitely wasn't it.

For a while I just laid there, staring up at them as they smiled and cooed down at me, trying to collect my thoughts. Well, it's not like I could have moved even if I wanted to. I don't think I had the strength to lift my over-sized baby head, let alone stand or crawl.

So for what felt like several hours I just watched them from where I was cradled in my mother's arms, as the happy couple talked with one another, occasionally glancing down and sparing me a few words whenever I caught their eyes.

Even when the time came for them to rest, and they placed me into my cradle, exiting the room and shutting the lights behind them, I did nothing but continue to stare up at the dark ceiling, putting my thoughts together.

I didn't even bother trying to delude myself with pretenses of this being nothing but a dream; it was all too real for it to be that. I had always prided myself in being a logical person, even under pressure, so I did not try to make up excuses to deny reality.

I was reincarnated, into a new world at that. One that was supposed to be just fiction and fantasy. I wonder if this made Kishimoto this world's God? I hope not, that prick was an absolute troll and I'd hate to see what he'd do to me if he was.

Anyway, I merely accepted it as fact and moved on.

Maybe the reason why I found it so easy to accept what was happening was because I remembered all too clearly how I died. It's rather hard to forget being murdered by your own son after all. The shock and pain of that betrayal was still fresh in my mind. After going through something like that what was reincarnation? Nothing.

So as I lay there, I asked myself _what should I do now?_

Were I still I child, mentally at least, I would have wanted to have an adventure. I would have wanted to become a hero.

But I knew better than to walk that path. Heroes were not real, nothing but myths, stories we tell ourselves to make the world appear a better place that it did. And the few heroes that might have existed never lived out happy lives; all that awaited them was pain and betrayal. I learned that the hard way.

So, the question remains what should I do?

And it was then, lost in my thoughts in the darkness of that room that I remembered.

In this world there existed something I wanted. A power unmatched by any another. Those Divine eyes of God. Eyes that held power over life and death, that presided over time and dimensions, it ruled over it all. Everything that laid beneath the Heavens were for it command.

Ultimate power given physical form.

The fabled Rinnegan.

Those eyes, I wanted those eyes.

I _will _have those eyes.

Even if I have to break this war torn world in two, the Rinnegan will be _mine. _And I will slaughter anyone who tries to stop me. Be they man, Shinobi or the Tailed beasts, I will kill them all.

I felt my lips twist in a manic smile as laughter bubbled up from my chest and poured out of my throat, "Ha…Haha…Hahahaha-_*cough**cough*_" Ouch, my lungs! My underdeveloped baby lungs, by God do they hurt! I broke down into a coughing fit for several seconds and then the next thing I knew, in defiance to any will of my own, I started crying like a damn baby, "_Wa-Wahhhhh~_."

Called by the sound of my wailing, the door slammed open and my new apparent mother walked in, rushing to my side and cradling me, making comforting sounds all the while.

Ok, change of plans. Before I aim for the Rinnegan, I better start work on growing up first…and maybe get toilet trained or something because _holy shit_ I think I just soiled myself.

This is going to be a whole lot harder than I thought.

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***Chapter End***

**Author's**** note:**

**This story was stuck in my mind for a long while but I never had the chance to write it down. Lucky, I needed a bit of a breather from my other story so I decided to give this a shot and typed it out in one sitting. From now on I plan to work on this story to help me relax whenever I'm have trouble writing out the chapter for 'A Demon Lord's Hero'. Though I plan to release several new chapters of this soon first so look forward to it coming out in the next few days.**

**Now, something that always bothered me with the typical reincarnation story is that every character wants to save the world or help people. That made no sense to me. You are born in the world were people can posses power that makes them Gods in all but name but almost none of the reincarnated people want it? Well, this in my take one it.**

**The MC in this fic is going to be utterly ruthless. While he will still be a good guy (despite not wanting to be one) and have a heart, he isn't here to help people. Don't expect him to be the type who willingly hold the hands and helps the other characters in the story grow up. While he'll make exception for those very few he cares for, don't expect him to go out of the way to help a stranger. While it won't be apparent at first, within a few chapters it will become clear how frighteningly ruthless he can be. There is a reason why this story is called what it is.**

**Oh, and I'm sure some of you noticed for a someone who prides himself on his logic and clam mind he broke down rather easily when it came to Jiraiya's gender. That was done on purpose and is a clue for future events. That's all I'm saying for now.**

**I had already planned out in detail the entire first arc of this story. And for those of you wondering there is a reason why he was reincarnated. I won't reveal it for a while but you readers should be able to piece things together as the story progresses.**

**Also in case it isn't obvious this is an AU. So please don't be upset if things different from Canon happen.**

**Anyway, while it's much shorter than my usual chapters, I hope you liked it and please tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Troll

**Author's Notes: **Here's the second chapter of Monster. Now this was pretty hard for me to write. Those of you read my other story know that I'm best at writing character interaction and dialogue, but I can't do that here because the MC is still a baby thus doesn't have much opportunity to speak. Lucky, this is the only chapter where this will be a problem and despite it all I worked really hard on it and I think it turned out rather well. So, here it is and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Oh, and before I forget, it seemed that a lot of people had pictured Jiraya in this story incorrectly so I will post a link to the pic that inspired it on my profile.

_Chapter 2: The Troll_

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After an embarrassingly long period of crying I was finally able to settle down with some help from my new mother. Being gently rocked in her arms was unexpectedly comforting, and it help settle my raging emotions down rather quickly.

It seems even though my mind, or at the very least my memories, were of that an adult male my body certainly wasn't. This was an infant's body, and along with it came all the instincts of one. Simple things like moving my finger one at a time was beyond me now. Whenever I tried moving my index finger alone, the rest of my fingers will follow after it, causing my hand to clench into a tiny fist.

Great, just great. It seems that along with learning the basics of this world, I was going to have to learn how to control my body from scratch. Learning to walk was going to be a hassle, not to mention going through puberty all over again. At least I knew what to expect this time.

Seeing that I had finally stopped crying, my new mother leisurely slowed her rocking to a halt as she rose me up closer to her face. She said something while wearing a smile, whatever it was I couldn't begin to guess. When I tried speaking back, all the came out of my mouth was gibbering nonsense, just baby talk.

It seems I'm going to have to add learning to talk to the list.

Her smile widened and she cooed down at me, softly trailing a finger down my cheek. Wait a minute, I think I know this woman. I squinted my eyes and tried to get a better look at her, causing her to laugh at my expression.

Yes, I'm sure of it. I've seen this face somewhere before but I couldn't remember where. I don't recall any named female Hyuugas other than Hinata and Hanabi, and she certainly wasn't either one of them. Though she did resemble them more than a little, other than the eyes of course. But then again almost everyone in the Hyuuga clan were related to one another.

A voice called out from somewhere, making her look over her shoulder and smile. A man appeared from behind her, giving a quick kiss on her cheek before he rested his chin on her shoulder and peered down at me.

So this man was my father. Hmm, all in all not a bad looking bloke. Not going to win any male beauty contest or anything, and that long hair of his definitely has to go, but overall not too shabby. Looks like I'm going to end up ok in the looks department-wait, wait, WAIT! I knew this guy! It was Hiashi. Hiashi was my father!

I just gawked up at the head of the Hyuuga clan in utter bewilderment. And it appeared that my face must have been quite a sight because both of my parents broke down laughing at me. I didn't care, I just couldn't stop staring at them.

This confirmed it then. Not only was I born in the Naruto Universe, I was born in the original time line of the story. At first I suspected that I may have been reincarnated into a world similar to one from the story though not the same one but no, it looked like I was in the genuine article.

After gawking at him for a few more second, I relaxed and let lose a chuckle. Well, I tried to chuckle but it came out as an adorable sounding giggle instead but I was honestly too happy to care for the moment.

Oh this was good. No, this was more than just good, this was positively fantastic! I'm in the original timeline, probably the same age as the main cast. Do you know what this means? It means that I would finally get the chance to bash in the faces of some of my most hated characters. Ha, during my childhood I wanted to kick the asses of so many characters from this story so badly it wasn't even funny. If I knew all I had to do was die to get the chance at them, I would have happily offed myself years ago.

First there was the Datebayo-ing, Deus ex machina, talk ninjutsu asshole himself, Naruto. You think your childhood was tough you orange wearing moron? Then I dare you, just dare you to say Datebayo one more god damn time in front of me you little ramen-addict and I'll show you what it really means to have a miserable childhood you little brat.

Then there as Sasuke. The emo prince of the avengers himself. I swear on my soul that the very first thing I'm going to when I meet the emo is sock him right on the nose. I don't give a damn if the entire Uchiha clan are watching I'd do it. The little bastard deserves it and more. He should be lucky I don't neuter him for acting like a little bitch all the damn time.

And there are many more!

God, if you're out there, I just want to say thank you for giving this wonderful opportunity to beat these brats up. Even if I fail to get the Rinnegan, at least I know I'll die happy once I'm through with them.

I was jolted from my thoughts when I felt myself being set down on something solid. Quickly glancing around, I found myself on some kind of dressing table. Oh that's right, I still haven't had my diapers changed from earlier yet, have I?

My mother leaned over me for a few seconds and wiggled her fingers on my tummy, forcing me to squeal in laughter, before she knelt down to retrieve something from one of the lower drawers.

As she rummaged for something below, I took a moment to examine my new mother. Long hair, so dark it turned blue when bathed in light, framing a gentle face. This wasn't a face of someone who lived out in the sun, her skin was too pale and smooth for that. So not a ninja then.

For the life of me I could not remember her name. No matter how hard I tried I simply couldn't remember. Now that I think about, I barely recall anything at all when it comes to this woman, my new mother. All I know about her was she died before the start of the series, she married Hiashi, gave birth to two daughters, Hinata and Hanabi-

-Wait a second. Daughters?

That's right, this woman never gave birth to any sons only girls. I turned my head around trying to look around the room for any signs of other children but I couldn't see any. And since one of the few things I do remember clearly was that she died giving birth to Hanabi so that means I'm her first child.

But that's weird, I'm pretty sure her first born child was Hinata…

Wait. Was I reincarnated as Hinata?

Does that mean…I'm a girl now?

…

…

…

_NOOOOOO~~~~~~~~~~_

My mother practically jumped three feet up into the air, startled by my scream as I began to wail so loudly I was sure that the entire village heard me. She hunched over me, making shushing noises and tried to calm down but I didn't care. I didn't want to be a girl, I'm a man damn it.

I tried reaching down to my groin to check if I still had my tool, but I couldn't reach. My stubbly little hands were too short. I tried sitting up, rocking myself back and forth, but it was no use. My oversized baby head was too heavy for my little neck to lift. And since there was nothing I could do I just dropped back down and wailed my very lungs outs, this time by my own free will instead of any baby instincts.

It was only because I caught sight of the diaper in my mother's hand that I stopped crying. It seemed like she thought that I was crying because I had soiled myself earlier and was going to change my diaper. Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and change it then. Quick! Open the package, open the God damn package right now woman! I need to know if it's still there.

Somehow, she sensed my urgency and rushed to undressed me. Using all of the strength I had in my body, I rocked myself slightly upwards when she undressed me and was able to glance down into my groin just for an instant, only to find-

…Oh thank you God. Thank you.

It's there. We're safe, we're safe. False alarm people, it was just a false alarm. The peanuts are real, I repeat, the peanuts are real.

Really, don't scare me like that. That was a close one. If I found out I was reincarnated without my balls I would have killed myself. And I mean literally kill myself. As in, I'd turn my blanket into a noose, tie one end around my cradle the other around my neck, and then leap off.

We just barely avoided the first newborn baby suicide in history.

Hey, I may want the Rinnegan pretty badly but even I'm not willing to give up my manhood for it.

After that, I felt so relieved I just collapsed into an exhausted heap and let sleep finally take its hold on me.

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*several months later*

Underneath the dresser sitting behind me, an ant scurried across the floor. No more than a centimeter in length, it marched to the edge of the wall and snuck into a tiny crack there, one that would lead it outside.

Drawing my attention away, I turned my focus downwards. Looking down through the floor boards, past the hard packed ground and into the sewage network that existed beneath the house, I witness a small family of rats nesting in an old abandoned pipe.

Next I shifted my attention to my left. My head didn't even need to turn in that direction, all I had to do was focus and I could look past the room walls as if they weren't even there and see the courtyard that lay beyond them, where a dozen and more of my relatives trained together or practiced their morning kata. Whenever the hands of those sparring would clash, chakra would erupted like electric sparks, filling the air around them in a dazzling display of flickering lights.

The Byakugan is amazing.

These eyes may not be on par with the Rinnegan but they are something truly extraordinary, in my mind they are just as miraculous as my reincarnation. I could not believe how much I could _see_ now. Every direction, through every obstacle, only limited by the amount my mind could take in at any moment.

Yes, it's official. The Byakugan rocked.

A sharp burning sensation in my eyes, one that had been steadily growing for a while, told me I was quickly approaching my limit. I did not know what would happened if I pushed my eyes any further, but it did not take a genius to realize that burning pain was not a good sign. Reluctantly I turned off the Byakugan, cutting off the flow of my chakra to my eyes and return them to their dormant state.

It was like being plunged into the dark after standing under the noon sun. Where once I could see everything now all I could see what lay before me and even that was limit to the light spectrum of the human eye. After the vision of the Byakugan I may as well have been blind.

And now all I could see through my eyes was the view of the now all too familiar ceiling of the children's play room instead of the 360 vision that I'm already beginning to miss. The sounds of toddlers playing began to register in my ears now that I was no longer so focused on my sight.

Resisting the urge to rub my eyes even as they continued to burn, knowing from experience that it will only make things worse, I sat myself up. Around me a dozen or so children babbled nonsense as they played with their toys, none over the age of four.

"Like this Neji." A voice drifted from my left, catching my attention. Beyond the bars of the crib that currently imprisoned me, was a middle aged lady, one of the caretakers, holding a young toddler in her lap.

She kept trailing her fingers over the palm of the toddler's hand, repeating words of encouragement into his ears.

Little baby Neji looked down at his hands, his face marred with a frown of concentration, as he tried to understand what he was feeling. And oh my god was the little brat adorable. Nothing like the brooding teenager he'd grow up to one day be, right now he looked like a like a cross between a Panda and a water balloon. Even when he scowled in frustration he could not help but look adorable, the way his chubby cheeks puffed out made sure of that.

The caretaker said something else as she trailed her fingers again. Whatever it was I couldn't understand, my grasp of the language being what it was, but I didn't need to know what she was doing, I already knew. She was teaching him how to use his chakra, just like she did with me.

To say I was confused when I was in Neji's place all those months ago was putting it mildly. At the time I had no idea what she was trying to do, only that every time she ran her fingers through my palms it felt like my hand was being dipped in running water. It took me a week to finally realize that what I was feeling was chakra as it poured out of her fingers, and another three days after that to understand that she wanted me to mimic her.

When I finally did succeed in figuring out how to make my own chakra flow out from my hand, which was roughly a month later, she was so surprised that she nearly dropped me. I had thought I may have done something a bit too unusual for a baby but my father put those fears to rest.

His stoic face remained unmoved even after the caretaker took me to him and made me demonstrate what I could do, though there was a look of quiet pride and knowing satisfaction in his eyes that I was learning to recognize. So I guess that meant I didn't do anything too abnormal.

Now when I awakened my Byakugan a week later was a completely different story. I swear I thought his eyeballs would roll out from their sockets from how large they opened before he quickly hide his reaction behind his usual indifference mask. Which is something I didn't understand as awakening the Byakugan was far easier than learning how to use charka.

Around the room the same scene was repeated. Children who were not playing or resting, were carried by caretakers who then ran chakra across their hands in hopes they'd learn to do it themselves. Some of the older kids, no more than a couple, had activated their Byakugan and were apparently staring blankly ahead, but I knew better. Though none of the kids were anywhere near my current age, the youngest having just turned three just last month, making me ahead of the group my a large margin.

For a while I considered toning down my actions a bit and trying to act like a normal baby until I grew a bit older, but I quickly discarded that option. While it may have been better in the long run there was no way I could have pulled it off. Being a baby was _boring_.

You couldn't walk, you couldn't talk, all you could do it lie on your back as giant head made baby talk to you. Hell this world didn't even have any television so it wasn't like I had access to any easy entertainment. Though considering that baby shows consisted from such horrors as the 'teletubbies' it may have been a blessing in disguise.

But now that I had the Byakugan that all changed. Sure I still couldn't do much other than watch, but at least I get to watch something useful, something that I could learn from. Something that will make me strong.

While it wasn't anywhere near as good as actually practicing, I made sure to watch the clan's ninjas in their training whenever I had the chance. Even though I could not hear their words, or understand them even if I was able to, I still watched them. I observed how they would place their feet just so, how the instructors would correct the forms, how they always seemed to parry blows and rarely block.

I knew little about actually combat, other than that year I took up karate in 8th grade, but what I did know was the basics were essential and even the smallest of flaws could make all the difference. So I watched, watched and watched, until I got so good I could visualize the entire basic katas in my head. It actually reached the point where I even dreamt about watching them training.

And most importantly, I watched how they molded their chakra. I couldn't do the same thing as they did of course. My body's coils were still far too underdeveloped for anything of that level, and would probably break under the strain if I tried. As far as I can tell the Byakugan more or less emerged fully matured at birth and that was the only reason why I and the other children could use it at such a young age. But just because I couldn't mold chakra myself didn't mean I couldn't learn and understand how they did it. So I watched and learned.

And whenever I could not find anyone training in my range of sight, or if I grew tired to concentrate and my mind began to wander, I turned my eyes to the rest of the world that I found myself inhabiting.

I could not see very far at first, only a few dozen meters at most, but even with such a small range there was still so much to see. And with every passing week my eyes grew a little better. I would see a little bit more clearly, a little bit farther, even if only an inch, so I kept pushing them. Besides it wasn't as if I had anything else to do. It was either this or stare up at the ceiling in a constant state of perpetual boredom.

So after allowing my eyes to rest for a while, I leaned back on my bedding, tuned out all the noises from around me and opened my Byakugan, and a new world unfolded before my eyes for me to explore.

Hmm, what's this? Is that my Dad? What he still doing in the bedroom at this time in the morning? Normally he's off working somewhere. And is that my Mom- _OH HELL NO!_

I looked away as fast I could from the fornicating couple, trying to erase the image of my parents having sex from my mind but it was no use. The image was seared into my mind as it was done with a branding iron and it will just not go away.

_God damn it Hiashi!_ It's nine o'clock in the freaking morning and there are kids around. I mean I'm happy for you and all but dear lord I did not want to see that. Even though they weren't my real parents, I did not want to see my new mom getting it on- _Ahhh! _Don't think about it, just don't freaking think about it.

Just look somewhere else to distract you, like…like where I'm looking at right now? Hmm. Where am I? I reflexively threw my sight as far away from my parents and I don't think I've looked in this room before. That's weird, I was pretty sure I looked through every room my eyes could reach. Well, everything except the toil-

Wait, is this the toilet- _Ahh! My eyes!_

I take it back, the Byakugan _sucks_.

* * *

"Now open wide."

I glared down at the offending spoon that was filled will a foul sludge that may have been, in the looses sense of the word, food. I shifted my eyes up to my primary caretaker, Nanako, and gave her a look of such hatred that any sane man would have run away in fear.

Unfortunately as I had long ago discovered Nanako lacks any sense of self-preservation because instead of fleeing for her life, she instead continued to try to force the spoon into my tightly clenched mouth.

"Come on Hikaru-sama," she told me, "it's good for you."

If it's so good for me then why don't you eat it then? Damn it woman I want some meat. Beef, chicken, I'd even make due with fish or even some scrambled eggs, just not this mush of rabbit food you keep trying to feed me.

_Stop that_, swatting the spoon as she tried to force it into my mouth. I glared back at her with all my strength as I resisted her attempt. I swear woman, if you feed me that crap one more time I will slap you.

When it became apparent that I would not budge, she changed tactics and tried praising me instead, "Good children are the ones who eat their food Hikaru-sama. Now who's a good boy?"

Not me you hag. You want a good boy, then go get yourself a god damn dog and leave me alone. But I wasn't stupid enough to say a thing. I knew despite her grandmotherly appearance, Nanako had the heart of the devil and she was not above using dirty tricks to get what she wants. So instead of answering I just crossed my arms before me and leveled my best killer glare at her.

Unfortunately my killer glares are nowhere as effective as they used to be now that I'm in a two year old body.

"Ohh, don't you look so cute when you brood Hikaru-sama." The woman actually had the audacity too coo at me.

OK now that's crossing the line! "I don't brood-" a spoon was shoved into my mouth as I tried to tell the old woman off, and quickly depositing it's contented before I had the time to so much as blink.

…_Oh that conniving little bitch!_

"There, now that wasn't so bad wasn't it?" Nanako set the spoon and bowl down before picking be off from the high chair she trapped me in earlier. "Really Hikaru-sama, for someone who acts so smart all the time, you only show your true age at moments like this."

She gently set me on the ground before shooing me away. "Run along now Hikaru-sama, I've got work to do and I'm sure you want to get back to your books."

_ You may have one this round woman, but this is far from over! _

I was however smart enough to keep my thoughts to myself as I turned and ran away. The last time I talked back to her, Nanako force fed me another bowl full of that mush. See? A Devil I tell you.

Still, now that I was finally free from her clutches I could get back to work. Turning the corner I sprinted down the corridor, ignoring the servants and the occasional off-duty ninja who always made sure to give me a polite bow as I passed. It was a little bit weird at first having grown adults bowing to a toddler but I got used it fast, and now it was more of an annoyance than anything.

After turning two more corners and sprinting down as many halls, I skidded to a stop as I reached my destination. Before me a pair of large wooden door loomed. They were completely different from the sliding panels, _shoji_, that acted as entryways for the rest of the compound.

The closest of the two guards that stood on either side of the door, one of the few that were stationed inside of the compound instead of outside or patrolling the perimeter, held the door open at my approach, granting me entrance to the room within.

Giving him a quick nod of thanks, there is no way I could have opened the doors with my tiny body, I slipped in and the guard swiftly shut the door behind me. Quickly walking up to the railing before me, I paused and took a moment to take everything in and properly appreciate the room. It was, to put it simply, heaven.

I was standing next to the railing of the second floor landing. Below me were rows after rows of wooden shelves, each filled to brim with scrolls and books. The lighting that hung of the ceiling clearly illuminated the place despite its lack of windows, revealing the few figures that silently perused through the books. Some were sitting on the handful of desks set to one side of the room, carefully scanning through the delicate scrolls.

This here is the Hyuuga Clan Library, and is perhaps the most wonderful place in this entire planet. It has scrolls that were so old that they were written from the time before the founding of the Hidden Villages. They span every range of topics imaginable, from chakra theory, to 'modern' medicine to history and everything else I could possibly think of. There were even some scrolls that were rumored to have been written from the time of the children of the Sage of Six Paths, making them over four hundred years old, though I couldn't get my hands on a copy so I couldn't be sure.

And perhaps the primary reason for the library, were the scrolls that held information on every fighting style and ninjutsu techniques that the clan has ever encountered in its history. While many of these techniques are useless to the Hyuuga as a whole, either we lacked the prerequisites to use them or they clash with our style of fighting, they could still teach us how to counter and fight anyone who used those techniques.

With our eyes we could see how out enemy's jutsu's functioned, and while we couldn't mimic it like the Sharingan could, we could understand how they worked and through that figure out how to deal with them, should the need ever arise. And on the few occasions that we ever find anything useful, we reverse engineer the technique before integrating it into out fighting style. It was through this method that the Gentle Fist was perfected over the centuries.

I hadn't known the place even existed until a few months ago. I was only given permission to enter after I had learned to read and had exhausted the entire supply of books available to me.

Speaking of which, learning to read was far easier than learning to speak. For some reason that I could not understand, Kanji seemed to exist in this universe. The Japanese language didn't, neither did Chinese, but somehow their writing system did. After spending several days pondering the enigma I gave up and chalked it up to one of the world's unexplained mysteries.

Still, for all of my progress I doubted they would have allowed me in here had I been an ordinary child, no matter how much of a prodigy I was turning out to be. It seemed that being the son of the man in charge and clan heir to boot has its perks.

That's right, nepotism for the win.

For the last few months I've been spending every waking moment I could in here. Researching the world and, most importantly, the secrets of chakra. It was the one thing that the memories of my former life could not help me with, so I was understandably desperate for any information I could get my hands on.

I would stay here from after dawn to dusk every single day without leaving. Ok, so I tried to stay without leaving but that damn she-devil Nanako wouldn't let me. She'd pop in here several times a day to drag me by the ear out of here, forcing me to eat any missed meals and even play with the other kids. Which I do not need to tell you was an incredibly boring experience. Ever have an intellectual conversation with a three year old? No? Than consider yourself lucky because it usually involves them picking their noses and rubbing their boogers all over you.

The only time I'm not here by my own will is during my morning run. Let me start by saying how much I hated running. I always did and always will. But I knew it was crucial to get in a health shape to achieve my long term goals and I had always been told it was important to get into the habit early on, so I ran.

Every morning I would run with the some of the older kids, six year olds who had just begun their training. The instructors wouldn't allow me to train with them no matter how much I pleaded with them, deeming me to be too young to start, but they did allow me to join them in their run, finding no harm in it.

And I must admit that it was much harder than I thought. Even though this body was much stronger than any two year old had the right to be, probably due to all the chakra it held, it was still a child's. Just trying to match the six years old for their morning run tuckered me out for the entire day, and that's without the actual combat training the kids had to go through afterwards. Something I'm no doubt going to hate when the time came for me to go through them myself.

And that is why I spent most of my time here. My experience with running taught me that my body was still far too underdeveloped to properly train other than practicing with my Byakugan. So if I could not train my body, I decided to train my mind. Knowledge was a power equal to any other in this world, sometimes more so.

So I spent my days reading and running, slowly growing stronger as I did.

* * *

"Get up."

The voice commanded harshly, piercing through the ringing that filled my head.

"Get up, Hikaru-sama. The fight is not over." It repeated, not even a hint of infliction in its voice. Just cold detachment.

_Jeez, _I get it already.

Obediently I placed my hands beneath me and shoved myself up, ignoring how pain flared through my body when I did. Blood dripped down my lips and spilled onto ground, staining the tightly packed floor crimson.

With another solid push, I was able to force myself onto my feet though I had to keep my hands on my knees to stay up. After one more push I managed to straight up, though I did end up wobbling for a second before I found my balance. I reached a hand out to gently probe my throbbing jaw, but quickly snatched it away when it flared with pain.

Raising my face so that I look ahead of me, I saw the cause of my bruised jaw trying and failing to hide a superior smirk behind an impassive mask. At the age of nine, the kid still hasn't mastered the art of wearing the Hyuuga poker face that we were infamous for.

Seeing me back on my feet, the boy, I had no idea what his name was, took up a stance. Ignoring the bone deep weariness the filled my body, I lifted my arms and took a mirroring stance, feeling as if my limbs were cased in blocks of concrete.

Before I could so much as blink he charged me, his hand streaking towards my chest. Yet for all of it speed I could see it. I could tell exactly where the blow will land, on the right side of my chest, precisely three inches below my shoulder. I could even the picture the proper response, a strike to his left wrist with my right, knocking the blow off course.

Yet no matter how well I could picture it my head, reality was completely different.

I raised my hand to deflect, but even as I moved I could tell I wouldn't make it. For all of the greater distance he had to travel, his strike will hit my chest before I could stop it. No matter how fast I tried to move I, along with everyone else watching, knew that he would be faster.

Having no choice, I aborted my attempt at a parry, and tried to dodge the blow instead. Pulling my shoulder back, pivoting on my back leg to avoid the blow, and I succeeded if barely. I managed to pull back far enough that the strike missed me by an inch. But at the moment I was so off balance that I could not avoid the following blows.

I bent over double as I felt a hand bury itself into my belly, before I was sent tumbling backwards by an open handed uppercut hit in my chin.

The world went spinning around me as I was sent tumbling along the dirt packed floor, almost reaching to the edge of the sparing circle before I bled off enough momentum to stop.

"Get up, Hikaru-sama" The instructor commanded scarcely a second after I had skidded to halt, not even bothering to check up on me.

As I once again forced myself to my feet, ignoring how the world continued to spin around me, I thought back to how I had gotten myself into this mess.

It was customary for children of ninja clans, or at the very least the Hyuuga clan, to begin their training at the age of four. Though calling it training was a bit of a stretch, as they were more of a practice run than the real thing. Other than stretches, all other exercises were hidden in the form of games.

Ever play cat's cradles? That's hand sign training. Hide and seek? With a bit of helpful instruction and a couple of minor tweaks to the rules, it became a stealth and tracking exercise. Overall there was nothing that would have brought to mind ninja training just by looking at it. It was deemed too detrimental in the long run for children to start any strenuous training before the age of six.

Though they seemed to be willing to make an exception when it came to me.

Just a few weeks away from my fourth birthday they had separated me from the other children my age and tossed me in with the rest of the six years old. At first there were some concerns that I may have been too young to start sparring but they were all put to rest after the first session.

I had beaten them all.

Not that it was anything to brag about. Ninjas in training or not they were just kids. Most of them didn't even know how to make a proper fist yet, and the few that did telegraphed their punches so badly that I could see them coming a mile away. One time, all I had to win was side-step a punch and stick my foot out. The poor kid actually broke down crying after he tripped.

So they decided to up the ante.

And that's how I ended up getting my ass kicked by a nine year old.

"You're thinking too much Hikaru-sama." Our instructor and the current referee for the match informed me. He stood outside of the ring drawn into the ground of the courtyard, and stared impassively at me, uncaring for my bleeding, injured state. "While your form is excellent and your responses to your opponents strikes are the proper ones, your reactions are too slow. You spend too much time thinking and not enough moving, you must learn to move without thought."

I know. _Jeez_, do I ever know.

I had already figured out my problem since my very first spar with these kids.

I had no reflexes, no muscle memory. Even though I haven't been slacking off these four years everything I trained for was mental not physical. I had watched fully grown ninjas train every day for the majority of my new life until I reached the point that I could see and understand their movements. Compared to them these kids might have been moving in slow motion.

But it doesn't matter how slow these kids moved in my eyes if I moved even slower than they did.

To think, that when I was first brought here I had been so sure of myself that I had all but swaggered into the ring of my first spar, confident in my victory. Well that all changed when not even a second later a palm strike to my face broke my nose along with my arrogance.

I had realized my mistake almost immediately. My mind may have known the correct response but my body didn't. Whenever I wanted to block the blow I had to consciously move my arms into position, whenever I want to dodge a strike I needed to consciously command my feet to move. And there lies the problem; the lack of any proper reflexes slowed me. It was only a minor delay, barely even a split second in reaction time, but that split second made all the difference.

It had been a week since that first loss and I hadn't won a single spar yet. Hell, I don't think I was even able to get in a solid blow against any of these kids. Even against the least talented of the bunch, the size advantage was simply too large for me to gap. Their arms gave them far better reach, and their longer legs made them faster.

All in all, I was getting my ass kicked.

Repeatedly.

By - and I cannot possibly stress this enough - _nine year olds._

This was 8th grade karate class all over again.

I felt warmth pool in mouth and spat out the blood that had gathered there as I stood up again, though my legs wouldn't quite hold me up and I kept swaying. Through we weren't allowed to use the proper Gentle Fist for now, only the chakra-less version of it, it still hurt like you wouldn't believe.

That's why the clan always had at least one medical-nin available at the training fields at all times. Good thing about medical ninjutsu is that you can get the crap beat out of you and they'll fix you back up in time for your next fight.

_Lucky me._

"Are you stopping Hikaru-sama?" The trainer finally asked when I have failed to take up a stance. At first the words didn't properly register in my mind, so foreign were they to my train thought that I could not even comprehend them.

"Stopping?" I repeated dumbly and turned to give the trainer a question look, then everything clicked and I understood.

"No, Sensei." Though I tried to sound respectful, the words came out as a snicker. I felt the cut on my lip split open and dribble blood down my chin as I responded. "I'm not done yet."

Maybe I took a bigger blow to the head than I thought, or the maybe the entire week of pain and exhaustion finally caught up to me, but at the moment I found his words so damn absurd. I knew that I could have walked away from this. That with single word of complained I would have been sent back with a younger group of kids. My father and many of the clansmen may have had high expectations of me but they were not sadistic, even they would not force me to continue this training if I had told them to stop. Some of those who occasionally watch me 'train' actually seemed to hope that I would after seeing the results.

But I never said a single word of complaint…

Because I this was exactly what I wanted.

Sure this training hurt. And by God did it hurt. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts. But even though it hurts so damn much….

I knew that there was no better way to get stronger.

Even I knew I was behaving recklessly and maybe even a little bit mad, but I also knew I had no other choice but to walk this path. Not if I had wanted to survive for long.

In this world there lived monsters. They walked on two legs, saw the world through two eyes and listen through two ears just like anybody else. Yet for all that they looked and sounded like men, they were monsters.

Orochimaru, Nagato, Madara, the list goes on and on. They could massacre armies and conquer nations alone in the span of a day. These were beings that have long ago shed their human limitation and became something more.

And one day I had to fight them all. Of this I had no doubt.

So I needed to get strong. I didn't have time to wait around and relax. If I wanted to live, no if I wanted to _win, _I needed to grow as strong as possible, as fast as possible.

If I had taken the proper course and trained like I was supposed to have been, I had no doubt I would have grown strong, unusually so. With the advantages my reincarnation gave me it wouldn't have been difficult for me to have been hailed as a prodigy, an up and coming genius. Just like Neji was.

But it wouldn't have been enough.

Not to defeat them. Not to kill those monsters, it wouldn't have been anywhere near enough. To kill a monster, you had to have the strength of one.

I had to push myself. Harder than anyone, farther than anyone, I had to push myself and become strong. And that is why it will be here in this training ground, through my blood and suffering, that the Hyuuga monster will be born.

So instead of listening to common sense and stopping like any sane person in my place would have done, I turned back to my opponent and took a stance, ignoring the warmth that dripped down my chin. For some reason I could not understand the boy began to back away, a frightened look on his face.

Huh, now what was that about?

Well, it didn't matter as one of the surrounding students jeered at him, he stopped backing away and flushed red. When he next looked to me, all his pretense of calm serenity was abandoned as his face twisted up with embarrassed fueled rage, before he began stalking back towards me.

I widened my feet and prepared to meet the boy's charge. All for desire become strong.

The very strongest.

…

…

…Though I still got my ass handed to me again that day.

_By a freaking nine year old!_

* * *

Shadows danced on the wall, born from the moonlight that drifted through the room's window, the only source of illumination in an otherwise pitch black room.

The Hyuuga estate has always been a silent place. Even in the middle of the day there were hardly any loud noises, and never any yelling or shouting not even during training, as everyone carried themselves with a quiet dignity.

At night it was worse. As a clan that generally woke with the coming dawn, most of the household fell asleep soon after sunset. This left the place almost deafeningly silent during the night. Only the occasional sound of creaking of wood as the guards patrolled the corridors breaking the otherwise silent monotony.

In the quite of the night, the faint almost inaudible ticking of the clock sound unnaturally loud to my ears. It was the only thing I could hear in the darkness other than the steady beating of my heart.

Wrapped up in the blankets of my futon, I stared at the dancing shadows of my bedroom wall, making sure to keep my head faced away from the window. I was alone in my room, like I usually was when I slept, but I knew I would not be for long.

Every few minutes I flicker open my Byakugan, looking to see if the he had arrived yet. And in between I would count the beats of my heart to pass the time as I strained my ears all the while, listening to any signs of the night's unwelcome, but not unexpected visitor.

Tomorrow, I would officially become four years old. My birthday, an event that I was beginning to learn to loath. As the clan heir, I didn't have the privilege of having a quiet birthday party. No, every year I was forced to dressed up in the most uncomfortable clothing imaginable and then paraded around like a doll in front of our esteemed guests.

In any other circumstance I would not have given the slightest damn about my upcoming birthday other than annoyance. This year would not have been any different if I had not overheard one of the clan's Ninjas discussing the Kumo delegate that had arrived in Konoha just this morning to sign the peace treaty agreement.

To think that I had almost forgotten about it.

_The Hyuuga Affair._

On Hinata's, or mine as the case may be, fourth birthday one of the members of the Kumo delegate would break into Hyuuga compound and attempt to kidnap the clan heir.

It is due to tonight's event that Hizashi, Neji's father and my uncle, would die. And the final result would be a rift between the main house and the branch house of the clan, along with the souringthe relationship between Kumo and Konoha for years.

And of course there was the tiny little matter of me being kidnapped.

In other words a complete clusterfuck for all involved.

So naturally I'm going to try to change it.

The rustling of leaves came from my window, and I instantly flooded chakra into my eyes in responce. Immediately the darkness disappeared as my Byakugan awakened and I could now see the world around me as clearly as it were mid-day.

I quickly scanned the window and the area immediately around it for the perpetrator, making sure to keep perfectly still and show no sign that I was awake in case he was watching. I couldn't find anyone at first, but I knew I heard something so I kept looking and looking until I found-

A stray cat.

I slumped back into my bed, my heart beating so fast in my chest that it almost sounded like jackhammer. Jeez, I got to calm down, my nerves won't last the night if I kept jumping over every little thing.

My plan to stop this was simple. I knew I couldn't warn anybody about the kidnapping, not without raising more questions than I was willing to answer. So that only left one option, capture the kidnapper alive.

The entire Hyuuga Affair stemmed from the death of one of the delegates. Delegates whose safety was promised by the Hokage himself. Kumo probably claimed that entire kidnapping was staged by us after we assassinated the delegate. And the sad part is, that explanation was more than plausible. Going by the books I've read, Konoha ninjas had assassinated people for gain only to plead self-defense in more than one occasion in the past.

So all I had to do to fix it was make sure that the delegate did not die. Easier said than done but fortunately I had a plan. It wasn't much of a plan but it was simple and workable, which was the most important thing.

I was going to wait for my kidnapper to break into my room and stop him. Now I had no delusions on my ability to fight a fully grown and trained ninja when I could not even beat nine years old ninjas in training. Though my spars against them were starting to look like proper spars recently rather than the one-sided beat downs they were a week ago.

No, all I wanted to do was stall him. A chakra infused blow to the diaphragm or throat will be enough to stun him. So all I had to do is pretend I was asleep, waiting for him to get near me and sneak in a surprised blow, before screaming my lungs out and waking up the entire household.

Now normally I would have never even considered a plan this risky, especially when it was my life on the line, but that's the beauty of the entire thing, I wasn't in any danger even if I screwed up.

Kumo wanted to kidnap me because they wanted the power of the Byakugan. And they would not have been willing to take such a risky gamble if all they would gain at the end of it was a single pair of eyes. No what Kumo wanted was a bloodline of their own, an entire clan.

In other words they wanted to breed me.

A four year old would not be too hard to indoctrinate and be made loyal. And when I become of age they planned to toss some girls at me to impregnate until there was a dozen little me's running around. That's right, they would force me to have sex…lots and lots of sex with a ton of women for…years….huh, why was I so against this again anyway?

I'm pretty sure there was a good reason but I could not think of it at the moment…

Anyway, that meant that no matter how tonight's events panned out, I would be getting out of this unharmed. The proof of that is that the kidnapper never tried to harm Hinata even when Hiashi was attacking him.

I was the goose that laid the golden egg and neither side wanted to harm a single hair on my head.

So, now everything was set, all that remained was to wait for kidnapper to appear. And since I had no clear idea what time the kidnapping will occur, other than it was during the night, I had to make sure to stay on guard the entire night. I could not risk being half asleep when the time came.

….So all I have to do now is wait.

…

…

…

You know, at first this was actually nerve breaking but it was turning out to be rather boring and fast. Waiting in bed while pretending to be asleep is much harder that I thought it was going to be.

Shifting around a little bit, I looked up at the clock hanging from the wall in front of me.

_10:40_

…It's going to be a long night.

* * *

My cheeks flared in pain as I pinched them, forcing my eyelids that threatened to shut wide open.

This was the third time already that I had to resort to physical pain to prevent myself. It was as times like these that I truly hated being four again. You have no idea how hard it was to force yourself to stay up late when you were a kid.

Dear god you damn kidnapper, hurry the hell up and get here. It's bad enough that you want to abduct me, but now you want to ruin my bed time too? What a prick.

Pinching myself again when I felt sleep start to overcome me, I glance back up at the clock to see how much longer I had to wait.

_11:05_

….

This was going to suck.

* * *

All right, this was no longer funny. I almost fell asleep this time and I can't afford something like this happening again. Not when I may end up getting kidnapped at any minute. I need to keep my mind distracted if I wanted to stay awake. This called for drastic measures.

_99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer._

_ Take one down, and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall_…

* * *

_ 782 bottles of beer on the wall, 782 bottles of beer._

_ Take one down, and pass it around, 781 bottles of beer…_

* * *

2_,207 bottles of beer on the wall, 2,207 bottles of beer._

* * *

_Take one down, and pass it around, and then there are no more bottles of beers on the wall._

There! I finished the damn game three entire times already, increasing the numbers of bottles each round and I still haven't been kidnapped. What's taking the guy so long? I mean it's got to be approaching dawn by now.

I glanced up at the clock.

12:21

…

Oh you have to be shitting me.

* * *

Alright, enough of the beer bottle game. If I had to say that line one more time I'd snap. I got to think of something else to do to keep me awake but what?

…How about a song?

* * *

_Oh, if you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends._

* * *

_ Go-Go Power Rangers! Nah-na-na-na! Go-go Power Rangers, you mighty morphing Power Rangers!_

* * *

_And I~~~~, will always~, Love you~~_

* * *

_Gotta catch 'em all, Gotta catch 'em all, Yeah!_

_Zubat__, __Primeape__, __Meowth__, __Onix-_

* * *

Ok, I have exhausted every song I could remember except for the backstreet boys and I'll be damned if I sing any of them.

And where the hell is this guy? Shouldn't he have been here by now? I knew the security around the compound was tight but come on, I want to sleep already. What time was it anyway?

01:45

You know what, screw the plan and forget about capturing this guy alive. I'm going to murder the asshole with a spoon when I get my hands on him.

* * *

Bleary eyed, I stumbled out of my room, dark rings no doubt circling my eyes. I was so exhausted that I almost tripped over my own feet twice, and barely managed to stop myself from running face-first into one of the many house servants that were frantically running around the corridor.

Morning light rained across the hardwood floors through the many windows lining the hallway, and I could hear birds chirping outside as they cheerfully greeted the new day. I had never hated anything more than the sound of their cheer. All around me people rushed around, something that was more than a little bit unusual in this household.

Looking around I spotted a pair of gossiping servants and walked up to them. When they didn't notice me right away, I tugged on one of their sleeve.

"Oh, Hikaru-sama. Please forgive me I didn't see you there- Hikaru-sama! Are you alright? You look dreadful." The servants eyes widened in surprise when she took in my state. I must have been quite a sight, after having spent the entire night awake and alert.

Being in no mood for pointless chit-chat, I cut straight to the heart to the matter. "What's going on?"

It seemed like the servant in question was also quite keen in spreading some gossip as well, because she dropped the matter of my appearance and leaned towards me before stage whispering. "Well Hikaru-sama, it seemed that there was an intruder last night. The guards caught him before he was able to get too far in and had no trouble subduing him. Normally this would not have caused such a commotion, but when the guards presented him to Hiashi-sama this morning, he realized that the intruder was actually one of the Kumo visitors that arrived yesterday for the peace treaty."

I toned the rest of her words out, I heard enough. I felt the edge of my lips twitch as I fought back the urge to scream in frustration.

I wonder why I didn't realize something so obvious before.

This is the Hyuuga clan. A group of people who had eyes that could see through walls and spot an ant from a mile away. There is no way someone, no matter how skilled in stealth, could successfully sneak into the compound undetected, not when there was over a dozen Hyuuga guards patrolling the place and a hundred more resting.

It was impossible. Which meant there was no way that anyone could ever get close enough to kidnap the clan heir, be it me or Hinata.

In other words, the entire Hyuuga affairs could not have possible happened. The entire thing was pulled out of a certain author's ass just for the sake of entertainment…

And because of said author, I had to say up all night in a bundle of nerves for no reason.

…It's official…

_ KISHIMOTO YOU'RE A FUCKING TROLL!_

* * *

_*Chapter End*_

**AN: **And that's the end of the new chapter. In the Next chapter, Hikaru will finally end up going to the academy and he's going to end up meeting several of our beloved characters. And I can't wait to write it. There are a ton of character development and interaction that I have planned that I'm really looking forward to.

Oh and for those of you waiting for the next chapter of 'A Demon Lord's Hero', don't worry the new chapter is on it's way.

So tell me what you guys thing? did you like it? hated it? I really want to know so all comments will be appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3: Don't try to live so wise

_Chapter 3: Don't try to live so wise_

* * *

_My knee is still shaking, like I was twelve,__  
__Sneaking out of the classroom, by the back door.__  
__A man railed at me twice though, but I didn't care.__  
__Waiting is wasting for people like me._

_Don't try to live so wise.__  
__Don't cry 'cause you're so right.__  
__Don't dry with fakes or fears,__  
__'Cause you will hate yourself in the end._

_Don't try to live so wise.__  
__Don't cry 'cause you're so right.__  
__Don't dry with fakes or fears,__  
__'Cause you will hate yourself in the end._

* * *

In a futile effort to try and get a few more minutes of sleep, I shifted over to my side and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the sunlight that poured through the windows, past the thick curtains that he had just drawn open.

"Good morning Hikaru-sama, it's time to get up." A voice that held far too much cheer than should have been legally allowed this early in the morning called out to me. "And praise the sun, it's such wonderful weather we're having isn't it? It's going to be another great day, I can tell."

The sheer joy he spoke with as he greeted the new day could not be denied. It brought to mind a baby's laughter, the sound of children playing. It was a voice filled with so much happiness, innocence and nigh endless optimism that it could've coaxed a smile from the even the bitterest of souls.

I had never wanted to stab anyone more in my life.

"You say the same thing ever single morning." I grumbled out as I tossed my blanket over my head, trying to block out the light. "Even when it's raining."

"Why would a little bit of water prevent us from enjoying all the wonders that a new day would bring Hikaru-sama?" He questioned as he began to approach me, his footsteps on the wooden floor giving him away. "Quite the opposite, the life giving water that is blessed upon us by the rain would only make the day a better one. Oh praise the rain."

My blanket was yanked out of my hands and with it my last layer of protection from the sunlight. I resisted the urge to flip myself over onto my stomach and try to get just a few more minutes of sleep, knowing from experience that it would only get worse for me if I tried. So I simply surrendered to the inevitable and forced myself to get up.

"Ok I'm up, I'm up." Grousing, I pushed myself up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I threw my legs over the side of my bed. When I could finally see clearly I looked up to find the all too familiar face of the perpetrator smiling happily down at me. I levelled my best glare back up at him in turn. "Why the hell do you have to be so damn cheerful all the damn time Neji?"

Neji's smile just grew wider. "What's there not to be cheerful about? I'm blessed with a great father and mother, a perfectly healthy body and was born into a powerful and noble family. When life is so wonderful, how can I not be cheerful?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, an idea dawning on me. "And what would you do if your life wasn't so wonderful anymore? What if something terrible happened to you, say, oh I don't know-" I pretended to think on it for a moment, "Your father happened to be murdered before your eyes, would you finally stop being so cheerful then?"

At the moment I was seriously contemplating murdering my uncle's, if only to put an end to the abomination that Neji has become and turn him back to his original self.

Neji frowned mournfully as he thought on the matter. "Death is truly a terrible thing but like most things it is an unavoidable part of life, something that comes to us all. And while I would miss my father dearly, I know in my heart that he would not want me to suffer because of his passing. And that is why," Neji smiled at me with all the benevolence of a saint, "I would carry on as I am, being happy, because I know that is what he would have wanted."

And with that, all my hopes were dashed.

Jumping out of bed, I reached out and grabbed the clothing that Neji was holding out for me. One of the small but peculiar changes to my life was the change in my showering routine. For one thing, I no longer took showers but baths instead. It took some getting used to taking a bath before bed rather than after, which was the norm here. Though I have to admit, it is nice not having to go through the hassle of cleaning myself up every morning. Just a quick change of clothing and a brush of my teeth then I was done.

"Hey Neji," I asked as I pulled my shirt off and tossed it onto my bed, "was somebody singing just now?"

"Singing?" Neji took on a thoughtful look before shaking his head. "No, no one was singing as far as I could tell. Why?"

I halted halfway through putting a my new shirt, and thought back to that half-forgotten melody that filled my dream - _'Cause you will hate yourself in the end – _I gave away my head a quick shake and continued dressing. "Nothing. It was nothing Neji, just a dream. Don't worry about it."

"If you say so." Neji sounded a little dubious but shrugged before changing the subject. "So are you looking forward to your first day in the Academy?"

I couldn't stop myself from frowning as I pulled on my pants, "Well, it'll be interesting at the very least."

Truth be told, I did not even know why I was even being sent to the Academy. There was nothing for me to learn there, not at my level. Its coursework was designed to transform ordinary children with little or no form of formal training into competent Genin. And let's face it, I was the farthest thing possible from being either ordinary or untrained.

The few things that I could still be taught there I could just as easily learn at home, from the library or from one of my private tutors. There was absolutely nothing for me to gain from going to the Academy yet I had no choice in the matter. My father had order me to attend and for the life of me I had no idea why.

Over the years Hiashi has been forced to put up with a lot of shit from me, as I kept sticking my nose in all sorts of places a little child had no place being, and yet he has always given me a lot of leeway. Outside of training, where he was an absolutely brutal son of a bitch, he had always been a little soft when it came to me.

Maybe it was because I was a 'prodigy', but so long as I upheld my duties as the Clan Heir and continued to maintain my progress in training, he would more or less give into any of my demands. Well, reasonable ones at least.

While I understood _why_ he out-right rejected my request that he try and get an autograph from Itachi for me when he next saw him, and even why he had prohibited me from asking him myself for one should we ever meet, seeing as we had the whole clan rivalry thing going on between the Uchiha and Hyuuga, it still sucked.

Yet on this one matter, he was being unnaturally stubborn and would not budge an inch. Hiashi had even forbidden me from fast-tracking and skipping any years. So no matter how well I did, I was expect to spend the entire six years at the Academy, which I got to tell you is going to suck.

Not that I was in any hurry to become a Ninja or anything, not yet at least. I was still six and there was no way I was going to allow myself to be sent to the battlefield this early. Adult mind or not, I'd get killed out there. I had always intended to wait until I was at least 10 or so before deciding if I was ready to become a Genin, but by the looks of things the matter was being taken out of my hands.

By the time I was done with my musing I found that I had finally finished dressing, and turned to face a smiling Neji, who was already dressed up, having prepared long before he came to wake me. Damn him for being a morning person.

"The Academy is a wonderful place Hikaru-sama, I believe you may end up liking it more than you expect."

"It's not a matter of me liking it or not," I told him as I made my way through the side door and into my personal bathroom. "It's the level of training that I'm worried about. I didn't push myself for so long only to see my hard-earned skills deteriorate as I sit down in a middle of a classroom all day."

Neji shook his head while smiling indulgently as I began to wash my face, "Ah Hikaru-sama, now that there is where you are wrong. While you are correct that the level of training in the academy is not up to our standard, there is something they can teach us that we cannot learn anywhere else."

"And pray tell, what may that be?" I asked before I started brushing my teeth.

"Bonds." Neji answered. "Comrades, friends, people we can trust our backs and lives to. These are things we can never discover if we seclude ourselves in these walls. That is something you can only experience if you leave this place, and I believe that is precisely what Hiashi-sama intends for you to learn at the Academy."

"I doubt that's what my father intends for me to learn. That man is too practical to waste time on something like that." I muttered around my toothbrush before spitting out the toothpaste and quickly began rinsing my mouth clean. Really, Hiashi sending me to the Academy to learn about the 'power of friendship', as if he'd do anything so asinine.

When I was done rinsing my mouth I turned an assessing eye on my cousin. "You know at times like this I find it hard to believe you're just seven Neji. The way you talk and act is far too mature for your age."

"I could say the same thing about you Hikaru-sama." He was quick to point out.

That's because I'm forty-something year old man trapped in a six year old's body, what's your excuse?

Prodigy or nor, Neji spoke with a maturity that no seven year old should have. From the words he used to the topic he discussed, they should have been far above his level of comprehension at his current age. He actually sounded sophisticated at times. _Sophisticated_! I didn't even know seven year olds can pronounce the word let alone sound it but Neji was living proof.

Had he been the only child like this I would have simply chalked it up to him being a genius and left it at that but it wasn't only him. Almost every child in the compound was like this. While not as advanced as Neji was, they all sounded far older than they should have and demonstrated more intelligence than I would have ever expected from children their age.

The only possible explanation that I could think of was _Chakra_. Having that much Chakra coursing through their bodies, and with it their brains, since birth must have altered how their minds functioned or matured in some way.

The rattling sound of my bedroom door sliding open broke my train of thought. I turned to find Neji bowing slightly towards the door, smiling indulgently at my morning visitor. "Good morning, Ojou-sama."

"Onii-sama?" A small voice called out, ignoring Neji completely, before it was quickly followed by the pitter-patter of tiny feet crossing the wooden floor.

I walked out of the bathroom to greet my tiny guest, just in time to witness her tripping over the hem of her Kimono and falling face-first onto the ground. We watched as the little two year old skidded a full foot on the smooth hardwood floor before slowing to a halt.

For a long moment no one in the room moved, as me and Neji stared at the unmoving form of the little girl as she lay on the floor. Thankfully before anyone of us thought about panicking she began to stir.

Slowly the little girl placed both of her hands underneath her and pushed herself up to her knees, her arms shaking slightly from the effort, before raising her head up towards us, revealing an adorable little face with a red mark on her forehead.

Tear-filled eyes looked up at us, threatening to spill any minute, yet despite that she did not cry, even as her chin wobbled in her effort to hold her tears in check she refused to cry.

Neji was about to rush to the girl's aid but I beat him to it. Swiftly making my way to her, I knelt down and I slid my hands under her shoulders before standing. I observed the little girl as I lifted her up, holding her before me at arm's length.

Shoulder length brown hair, just a shade too bright to be called black, framed an oval face. Her skin was a rich healthy hue, the kind born from playing under the sun, and she was clothed in a silk kimono of a blue and white design while her Hyuuga pale eyes peered at me with bewilderment. She cocked her heard to side at me like a dog, her pain forgotten in her confusion.

"Neji?" My voice was deadly serious as I turned to look at my cousin, still holding the girl at arm's length before me.

"Yes, Hikaru-sama?" The amusement was painfully clear in his voice, but I pretended not to notice.

"With this, there can be no more doubt," I turned back to the tiny girl in my hands, before cuddling to my chest and rubbed my cheeks against hers. I all but squealed out the rest of my words, "My little sister is the most adorable thing ever!"

"If you say so Hikaru-sama." Neji, the disbeliever that he was, sounded as if he were only humouring me. Blasphemy!

Little Hanabi giggled in delight as she threw her arms around my neck. "Onii-sama, stop that! It tickles." She laughed out but didn't even try to push me away as she nuzzled in the crook of my neck.

This makes it official, girls are so much better than boys. I knew, just knew I should have had daughters instead of sons, they are simply so much better. That does it, if I ever have children again then I only wanted girls just like Hanabi.

"I'm sorry to disturb you two," Neji, not sounding the least bit sorry but rather amused, butted into our brother-sister time, "but it's time to leave. If we delay any longer you're going to be late for your first day at the Academy."

That was actually enough to drag me away from playing around with Hanabi as a thought occurred to me. "No, we wouldn't want to be late, now would we?" I felt my lips curve into an all so wicked smile. "Not when I have some long overdue business to attend to."

Neji, as perhaps the closest thing I had to a friend and confident, well other than Kou my bodyguard, instantly understood what I meant and paled. With a strained smile he pleaded with me, "Please try not to punch anyone Hikaru-sama. At least not someone too important. I don't want to you to start a Clan feud at your very day."

Hanabi, seeing the smile I was sporting decided to mimic me. The smile she made was as every bit as wicked as mine, proof that I had raised her well. We both turned as one to Neji. "Neji, Neji," I cooed at the boy while he sighed with resignation and muttered 'at least I tried' under his breath, "You know me all too well."

* * *

The boy was sent tumbling backwards, falling to the ground and landing on his back-side. His eyes were wide with shock and confusion, still unable to process what had just happened.

He hesitantly raised a hand to touch his nose, gently prodding it with his fingers only to flinch, quickly pulling it away. Sasuke's eyes widened when he caught sight of the streaks of red staining the tips of his fingers and he stared in disbelief at his own blood, before finally looking back up at me from where I loomed over him.

I unclenched my fist, ignoring the slightly tender but oh so satisfying stinging on my knuckles, and pointed straight at the downed Uchiha.

"That, that you douche," I savoured every word as they spilled from my lips, I had waited years for this moment and was going to relish every second of it, "is for every single one of your episodes that I had to sit through where you whined and wailed about like a little bitch about how bad your life was, even as you slaughtered and betrayed countless of innocent people as you did so. Seriously! You moan about your dead family while you were trying to commit bloody genocide and yet still expected us to feel sorry for you? That is for acting like the biggest dumb-ass I have ever had the displeasure of knowing when you betrayed your brother's sacrifice, you fucking disgrace to your clan."

"…Huh?" Was Sasuke's eloquent reply.

The train of events was too much for his mind, and he just blankly stared up at me with his mouth hanging open as if he was watching a mad man. But I didn't care, I was on a roll here, and I wasn't going stop until I got everything off my chest.

"And that is for every single god damn Narutotard fan-boy that were stupid enough to worship your selfish prick of an ass, and for every delusional teenage boy who was inspired by your actions to buy a pair of Sharingan contact lenses so they could huddle in some dark corner of their room and pretend to be all emo and dark like some brooding Uchiha for some god forsaken reason. That's right, you somehow managed to inspire teenagers to become even more annoying, something that I never even knew was possible. And _that_, is why I just bashed your face in, you prick."

I cupped an ear and pretended to listen to something, "You hear that?" I asked, "That is the sound of millions of people across the multi-verse cheering me on for whooping your sorry ass and dear god did it feel fantastic!"

By the time I was done with my tangent I found myself panting, shoulders rising and falling as if I had ran a marathon. The sound of murmuring coming from all around me pierced through my mental haze and I finally became aware of all the people watching us.

We were standing within the Academy grounds, in the large courtyard located in front of the main building. The courtyard was filled with several of my fellow freshmen, numbering over three hundred in all, who were mingling with one another in an attempt to make new friends or were chatting with old ones, though every one of them that stood nearby had stopped to stare.

It had only been a couple of minutes ago when Kou, my bodyguard, had dropped Neji and me off at the Academy. I had barely taken a single step onto the Academy's ground when my eyes locked on to a familiar haircut and, without hesitation, I charged straight ahead and ploughed a fist into Sasuke face.

Yeah, I was probably going to get into a lot of trouble for that but the sheer satisfaction I felt made it worth it, even if I did started a feud. Which was unlikely considering I was still a kid, but I certainly didn't help make things any better between our clans.

Not that it matters. If things followed the original timeline then the Uchiha would get wiped up soon, so there was no point in playing nice with them.

Ignoring Sasuke for a moment, who still kept staring up at me as if I was a raging lunatic, I turned to the gates and spotted Kou from where he stood along with the other parents, with Neji still by his side.

Kou lifted his hand away from his face, a red palm print marking his cheek from how hard he had facepalmed, before he spared a quick and wistful glance at the flask on his belt. I was told that he had only begun drinking after he was assigned to me, and now refused to go anywhere without taking a flask of the stuff along.

Neji just let out a sigh and shook his head. Yeah, out of everyone I knew Neji has always been the least fazed by my antics. I guess getting a lot of first-hand experience over the years would do that to you.

I then looked past them towards the rest of the parents, or should I say one particular pair of parents. Fugaku, the patriarch of the Uchiha, and with his normally soft natured wife were both levelling their best glares at me. But for all of their efforts to turn me to ash with their eyes alone, neither one of them held a candle to look of smouldering rage that the teenage boy who stood beside them was giving me.

And _oh my God it was Itachi!_

The young and newly minted ANBU Captain was standing there along with his parents, no doubt taking time from work to see his brother off at his first day at the Academy. He was dressed up in his usual grey pants and black shirt, his clan symbol no doubted sewed on its back, and, if the look that he was sending my way was anything to go by, he was furious.

Over the years I had gotten into my share of fights. Most of them were not even my fault. Children tend to react badly when someone much younger surpasses them, and many tried to take their frustration out on me by attempting to 'teach me my place'. Though I admit that the responsibility for some fights rested solely on me, usually when I got bored and did something exceedingly stupid.

And after a time I had begun to notice a kind of unwritten rule that the adults all seemed to follow when it came to dealing with children fighting, at least those training to be Ninjas. Leave the children be and let them sort it out among themselves.

A child's quarrel was just that, children quarrelling, it happens all the time and there was no need to make a bigger deal out of it than what it was. So long as it doesn't get out of hand and no one gets seriously hurt, we were expected to deal with it ourselves, with no direct interference or help from adults until after the fight was over.

I suppose when training children to become killers, fights breaking out were unavoidable. At times I had even wondered if they actually encouraged fights to break out, perhaps even seeing it as a type of training.

So the elder two Uchiha hesitated, unsure if they should intervene in what should have rightfully been their youngest son's fight. What was most likely stopping them from acting was their concern over both their Clan and their son's reputation.

To protect Sasuke from me was tantamount to publicly admitting that he needed protection from me, the he was inferior to the Hyuuga child. And I'm pretty sure both of our clans' would rather lick the dirt off a beggar's feet than admit that they were ever inferior in any way to the other.

However the youngest of the three did not share their hesitation.

Whether it was his age that gave him some leeway or, more likely, that he simply didn't give a damn about reputation when it came to protecting his brother, he swiftly made his way to me, and before I knew it Uchiha Itachi was standing before me, placing himself between his brother and me. All the while he stared down at me with those crimson orbs of his as they lazily spun in their sockets.

Itachi opened his mouth, probably to reprimand me or even to warn me off about ever hitting his brother again, but before he could get so much as a word in, I acted.

I dropped down onto both of my knees before him and held my arms wide open "My lord!" I yelled out with honest joy. "I cannot begin to tell you how happy and honoured I am to finally meet you. I am your biggest fan!"

The Sharingan, one of the most powerful ocular bloodlines in existence, grants it's user a clarity of perception that allows you to notice even the most minute of details, among many other of its unique abilities.

But there was no such thing as perfect technique. Every move, every jutsu, no matter how sublime, had a flaw that could be exploited. And one of the Sharingan's flaw was it always showed the truth. Those eyes did not lie, with their ability to see through any deception, genjutsu or otherwise, they could not be lied to, so everything it showed you was the truth, no matter how much you wished it wasn't.

Itachi's skill with the Sharingan was legendary, his mastery over the eyes granted him the ability to spot any lie, even one told by the most talented and well-trained of liars. So simply by looking at me he knew, beyond any doubt that in spite of how far-fetched I was behaving, I was being completely serious with him. The look of worship I was giving him was not an act, but rather the genuine article.

I have to tell you, the look of pure shock on his usually stoic face was priceless.

His loss of composure only lasted for a brief second before he quickly regained control of himself and his expression returned back to normal. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" I parroted, cocking my head to the side before glancing down at myself. I smacked myself on my forehead when I understood. "Oh, you're right! What am I thinking?"

I quickly rose up to my feet and, while he tried to hide it, I could clearly see the relief on his face. For Itachi, the Uchiha Heir, having me, the Hyuuga Heir, kneel down before him, in public no less, must have been surreal. This was probably as far out from his comfort zone he could get and his relief that the situation was finally approaching something normal again was almost palatable.

That was at least until I spun in place to face the opposite direction before dropping to my knees again.

"…What are you doing?" he repeated again, no longer even trying to hide his bewilderment. Though I could no longer see him I had no doubt that his mask slipped off again.

"I'm unworthy to even look in your general direction my lord." I explained and lower my head in respect.

Now you must understand while part of the reason I'm behaving like this was because I genuinely enjoyed messing with people, a hobby I began to develop in an effort to fight off the boredom that came in a world without an internet connection, but mostly I did this because_ Holy Shit_ this was mother fucking Itachi damn it! _The Uchiha Itachi! _Who was without the doubt the greatest freaking ninja since 'sit your ass back down I'll deal with you later Madara' Hashirama himself.

And Hyuuga-Uchiha Clan rivalry or not, I knew that when in the presence of greatness, we peons must bow!

From the edge of my eyes I caught sight of Kou, who just stared at me wide-eyed before finally reaching for his flask and taking a long swallow from it. Poor bastard was going to have a hell of a time explaining this to Hiashi. A shell-shocked Neji just stood beside him, his face turning to a shade of white so pale it looked like snow.

Now that I think it about, lot of people were looking at me weirdly at the moment. What? Is there something wrong with me bowing before a living god? Infidels, the lot of them.

No wait, I was wrong. Not everyone was staring at me.

Off to one side, a large group of anxious parents were huddled together. They were trying to catch sight of something, some of them standing on their toes to peer over the heads of the crowd. Worried mothers muttered silent prayers while casting anxious glances ahead, not relaxing even as their husbands placed comforting arms around them, though they too could not hid the fear in their eyes.

Even from here, I could almost taste their terror.

What were they doing?

Tracing their line of sight, I tried to figure out what it was they were looking at. It was then that I caught sight of it.

_It shimmered in the air like threads of sunlight._

It was there just for a second, a flash of yellow hair, and then it was gone, hidden behind the thick milling crowds of the students.

Something in me turned cold as I caught sight of it, as if a bucket of water was thrown over my head, and suddenly the world wasn't funny anymore. It was but a single glimpse, but everything change because of it.

_Don't try to live so wise._

That haunting melody, drifting in and out of my thoughts, echoing like a half forgotten memory.

_Ah_, I remember now.

"Excuse me." I rose to my feet and walked in the direction of where I last caught sight of it. Voices called out from behind me but I couldn't bring myself to care enough to listen.

My footsteps were slow and unhurried as I made my way through the crowds, easily weaving between the milling bodies. And the closer I grew, the more glimpses I would catch. A flash of orange clothing, whisker marked cheeks, a smile stretched so wide it looked like it hurt. Never more for a moment, nothing more than a glimpse before I lost sight of it, hidden from my view once again.

Soon the words reached my ears.

_Go away - Mum told me to keep away – What are you doing here, nobody wants you here – Don't get closer, you'll get eaten – No I don't want to be your friend._

But two words was repeated over and over again

…_Monster_

…_Kyuubi_

That's right, the Kyuubi was never kept secret in this world was it?

And at last I was past the densest part of the crowd and I could finally see what was happening.

A line of children formed a semi-circle near one edge of the courtyard, all of them facing in. And in the middle of the children, there was one who stood alone.

That was the very first time that I caught sight of him.

His hair was a little bit longer than he would wear it later in life but it was still in that unmistakable mess yellow of spikes. Ocean-Blue eyes peered out of a whiskered face and a blue shirt peaked out beneath his orange jacket.

Through it all, he just smiled.

Taunts, jeers, insults, they fell on him like the rain and he met them all with a smile. Clowning around as if the words didn't hurt, as if their actions didn't pain him.

_Don't dry with fakes or fears,_

When I watched that scene, I felt over come by…

_Irritation._

Irritating, it was so fucking irritating. What the hell did you think you were doing?

Instantly the cold that had taken hold of me disappeared, replaced by a fire, burning away all traces of the chill left behind.

My footsteps grew faster, steadily increasing until I all but sprinted towards them

_What the Hell! Seriously, What the bloody Hell!_

My hand clenched into a fist as I neared the ring of children.

One of the kids, a brown haired boy of six, must have heard me coming because he turned around, his eyes widening in shock when he saw me charging straight at him. When I was but a pace away I cocked my arm back, putting all my weight behind the punch. The boy, too late to do anything, stumbled back in fear-

_Grit your teeth brat!_

-Only to blink in surprise as I ran straight past him.

Naruto barely had enough time to catch sight of me before my fist ploughed into his face. The blow was so strong that it knocked him straight off his feet, sending him tumbling onto the ground.

Unlike with Sasuke I felt no satisfaction in punching him, no joy, just a sense of frustration so strong that bordered on rage. As I glared down at his fallen form I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I was panting and barely held myself back from hitting him again.

"What are you doing? What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I screamed out at Naruto from where he lay on the ground, his confusion was so evident on his face that it might as well have been painted on.

"Wha-huh?" He stammered out as he tried to push himself back up, but I didn't let him. When it looked like he was about to get to his feet I leapt, barreling into his to waist, knocking him back onto the ground and quickly straddling his waist.

Gripping the front of his shirt I dragged his face up to my own, and glared down into his confused eyes. "Why are you smiling? Why the hell are you even laughing? You're not supposed to do that!" Pulling my head back, I quickly brought it back down.

My forehead smashed painfully onto his, it hurt so much that I saw stars and had to grit my teeth to stop myself from yelling out. Naruto however did not try to restrain himself and let out a scream of pain.

"Yes, that's how you're supposed to react." I smiled down at the teary eyed boy, ignoring the way my blood dripped off of my forehead and fall down onto his cheeks. When I finally saw him looking back up at me and was certain that I had his attention, I continued speaking. "It hurts doesn't it, getting hit that is? When someone hits you it hurts, it's supposed to hurt. It's so painful that you want to break out into tears and cry. That's what you're supposed to do when you're in pain kid. You're not supposed to smile damn it!"

I raised my fist and was about to bring it smashing down onto his face again when I felt something shift beneath me. The next thing I knew the entire world was flipped upside down as I was sent flying through the air, only to feel pain erupt from my back an instant later as I came crashing back down to the ground so hard that it knocked the air out of my lungs.

Stunned for a few seconds as my body fought for air, I laid on my back and took a couple of deep breaths before flipping myself over and pushing myself onto my feet, though I need to keep my hands on my knees to steady myself. When I finally bothered to look up I quickly discovered that Naruto too has risen back onto his feet.

And he was no longer smiling.

He looked angry.

I felt the edge of my lip quirk up in satisfaction. "That's better, much better. That's how you're supposed to look when you're fighting, not that pasted on smile that you keep wearing."

"What do you know!" Naruto yelled out and pointed straight at me. "What do you know about me? About anything?"

"You're right kid, I'd don't know you. And truth be told I don't give enough of a damn to bother finding out." Standing up to my full height I took a step towards the boy.

"But what I do know is that you're not supposed to laugh when you're in pain. That's something that every snot nosed-brat could tell you. It's ok to be angry – you're just a kid aren't you? You're supposed to be stupid, to wail and cry over every god damn little thing like the brat that you are. So why the hell won't you just act your bloody age instead of trying to be so wise and smile away your pain. Because if keep doing that-"

_'Cause you will hate yourself in the end._

"-all you'll be doing is hurting yourself in the end." Before he could as much as blink, I closed the distance between us and socked him in the face. Then again in his side. I didn't use the Gentle Fist, no chakra or any of my training in this fight, I just wailed my blows at him. "So get angry. Yell, cry, fight back, do something! Don't just sit there and smile."

I didn't' even realize he had begun fighting back until I found myself folding over in two as a fist buried itself into my belly. The force behind the punch was insane. In all of my training I had never felt anything like it from someone my age. Not even close. No child, Shinobi or not, should have that much power.

I see, so this was a _Jinchuuriki_.

"I'm the Kyuubi!" He screamed out as he threw another punch which I weaved around. For all of the force behind the blow, the kid telegraphed his punches so badly that I had no trouble dodging them now that I knew they were coming.

"So the fuck what!?" Ducking under a second blow I stepped closer to his body and punched him again in his side, only now realizing how little damage I was actually doing. "Demon-container or not, you're still just a snot-nosed brat. What's the hell is wrong with crying when you're sad? Laughing only when you're happy?"

"Because then I'll never laugh at all." He yelled out in anger as he threw yet another punch. "I'll never smile. If I'm only supposed to laugh when I'm happy, then…then…" His blows began to slow until they halted to a stop. When I looked at his face to see figure out why I found myself looking at an expression so fragile that it looked like it would shatter like glass. He sniffled and looked down at his feet and whispered so quietly that I barely heard him. "…Then I'll do nothing but cry all the time."

"And what is wrong with that?" I lowered my guard, suddenly feeling inexplicably exhausted. "If you don't cry, then how is anyone supposed to know that you're in pain?"

"NO ONE CARES!" I was knocked off my feet as Naruto rammed himself into my stomach. We were both knocked onto the floor before he straddled my waist. In a complete reversal of our earlier position, he reached out and grabbed my shirt before dragging my face up to his. Ocean-blue eyes that were wet with unshed tears stared resolutely into mine. "I'm not like you. I don't have a mum or a dad. I don't even have a family."

With one hand still gripping my shirt, he raised the other into the air and brought it down onto my face. "It doesn't matter if I cry or not because no one will care, there is no one that will even notice. I'm sick of crying and crying when nothing changes. If there is no one there to wipe away the tears then what's the point?"

"So is that it? They hurt you and you take it? Why don't you fight back? When someone hurts you, just hurt them back harder. That's how you make them stop and go away."

"But that's just it; I don't want to hurt anyone. I just don't want to be left alone anymore."

I laughed up at him after another blow to my face, a familiar warmth spilling from my bloodied nose and down the side of my cheek. "Well, I hate to break it you kid. But if you don't want to hurt anybody you're doing a terrible job at it."

"That's because you keep pissing me off so much." He dragged me up again before slamming me back onto the ground. "If it's some rich jerk like that you, then I don't think I'll really mind bashing your face in."

For all the bluster of his words, his face told a different story. Though he tried to scowl in rage, all I could see was a crying child. Tears now fell freely down his face even as he rained more blows down at me, though they were so weak now that I barely felt them.

I could now see it clearly on his face, a pain so deep and old that it hurt just looking at it.

Yes, that's it. This is what I wanted to see.

Kids aren't supposed to hide their pain, you're supposed to cry when you're sad. Laugh at adversity, smile during hard times? Leave hard stuff like that for old geezers like me, they're not things a child should be doing. Not one as young as you. You shouldn't be pretending to be so old Naruto.

Did you know Naruto, there was a time I admired you?

It's true. When I was a child I honestly looked up to you. From the bottom of my heart I adored you. I wanted you to succeed, to show the world that they were wrong about you. Back then when I kept watching you try so hard, no matter how hard things got, no matter how painful it was to just simply keep on living, you never gave up and still kept on fighting.

How could I not cheer for you?

So what happened to you?

The fool that you kept showing to the world was once but a mask, make believe, something you wore to keep living because it was too painful to carry on otherwise. But when did the mask stop being just a mask. When did the mask become real?

I remember, that was why I hated you so much. When the mask became the real you, I wanted to know, where did the person I admire go? Why was there nothing but a shallow fool in his place instead?

There was something I always wanted to say to you – you weren't wrong.

You weren't the bad one, so why the hell are you punishing yourself? Why do you have to become the fool to please them? Those that hurt you? You weren't wrong so why do you have to be the one to suffer.

If you wanted to forgive those who had hurt you, then that was fine, do so, but why did you have to pretend that they never did anything wrong? They hurt you, wronged you, and they never once apologized, they never regretted it, yet you became the fool that you once just pretended to be in order to forgive them.

_Don't try to live so wise.__  
__Don't cry 'cause you're so right.__  
__Don't dry with fakes or fears,__  
__'Cause you will hate yourself in the end_

Why do you keep trying to pretend to be so wise? When did you become such a shallow person? When did you become the mask you wore?

When the mask became you, I felt as if you took away my hero. I felt as if you killed him.

I never forgave you for that.

That is why I'm so happy right now.

This pain, this rage, everything that you were showing me right now, it wasn't a mask. This was the _real_ you.

This was _Uzumaki Naruto_.

It's been a while hasn't it?

Just as I thought Naruto, you are-

"-Interesting." I smiled through blooded lips, "It appears I was right about you Uzumaki Naruto all those years ago. You really are interesting."

I blocked his next punch, snatching his wrist out of the air as it streaked towards my face. "Hey, Naruto." I looked up at him from where he still straddled me. "I have an offer for you."

He tried scowling down at me through his tears, his weariness and distrust clear.

I ignored his reaction, and gave him a genuine smile, ignoring the sting as my lips split open. "Let's be friends."

"…Huh?"

* * *

**Author's notes:**

** And there we have it. Naruto and Hikaru have finally met. I had originally planned to have this chapter be longer and show the aftermath of their meeting but this was such a good spot to end it that I decided to stop here.**

** Hikaru, when he was a child admired Naruto for his ability to smile and be cheerful when times were though. But Hikaru is no longer a child, he is a grown man, a father in his own right, with sons of his own. Now when he looks at Naruto smiling, all he feels is pain and regret that a child was forced to behave so maturely at such a young age. **

** Anyway, the next chapter is going to be done before long which will show us the reaction of the Hyuuga Clan to this incident, along with more Hikaru and Naruto interactions.**

** And the chapter after that one will be the end of the arc, and unlike this chapter which showcased Hikaru's nice side (yes, this was his nice side), that chapter will showcase his ruthless side that I promised you and will give you all a glimpse into the true nature of our main protagonist (I can'r rightfully refer to him as our Hero).**

** So, how did you like the chapter? I'm both proud and nervous on how it turned out so be sure to tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4: Be careful what you wish for

_Be careful what you wish for_

* * *

"So," Setting my backpack down, I turned around to face my gathered family and _geez_ did a lot of them turn up. I placed my hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I'll be spending the next couple of days at this guy's place."

Naruto, who had been gawking around at the Hyuuga estate like some kind of country bumpkin seeing the city for the first time, which now that I think about it may not be too off the mark, jumped at my touch. He stopped looking around and finally paid attention to what was happening around him, cheeks quickly coloring when he noticed the eyes of my entire clan on us.

And I wasn't exaggerating by much either. It felt as if every Hyuuga on the entire estate has come to see us off. We were standing before the main gates, in what I would have ordinary called the front yard to the compound, if it wasn't for the fact that it was bigger than most soccer fields.

Standing on the stairway leading up to the main building was a blank-faced Hiashi, who gazed impassively down at me with his hands tucked into the sleeves of his kimono. Hizashi was standing to his left and just a step behind, while my grandfather stood to his right. Surrounding them on either side were the Clan Elders, every single last one of them, all of whom were wearing faces of grim disapproval.

Several other Clan members were there as well, most of whom probably turned up to watch the free show more than anything. All of them were either behind the Elders or far off to the side, none of them stupid or brave enough to stand between us. A handful of my younger cousins, those too short to see through the crowd and have yet to master the Byakugan well enough to watch from a distance, have climbed up to the second floor of the compound and opened up the windows to peer down at us.

I actually spotted my little sister Hanabi, up by one of the windows, carried in our mother's arm. She was leaning forward as far as she could go, enthusiastically waving goodbye with both of her hands, and I could faintly hear calls of _itrerashhai _coming from her_. _

Let me tell you, for a stoic bunch, the Hyuuga simply loved gossip, especially the non-ninjas among them. And a scandal like this one must have been too much for them to resist, so it came as no surprise to see so many of my relative turning up. There must have been a hundred of them out here, and that was just what I could see. No telling how many were sneaking a peek from a far with the Byakugan.

Kou was standing a little bit off to the left, right next to the group of Elders, where he was downing his flash of whisky as if it was water. A couple of the less self-disciplined Elders kept shooting him envious looks rather than ones of disapproval like they normally would have.

Well, after he gave his report of what happened today, me punching the son of the Uchiha clan head, then bowing down in public before his other son, the Uchiha Heir, before going to immediately start a fight with the village Jinchuuriki, only to befriend said Jinchuuriki, bring him home like a lost puppy and request to sleep over at the his place.

Well, that was alone was enough to tempt any man to drink. That the Clan Head had immediately approved my request without so much as a complaint probably was the final nail on the coffin for them.

I just realized….this was only my first day at the Academy. These poor bastards are going to have to put up with another six years of this shit.

"Hikaru." My eyes turned back to my father, who was coolly looking down at me from his place up the stairs. Hiashi as he usually did when in public, showed nothing of what he was feeling, hiding his thoughts behind an expressionless face. "Do you really intend to go through with this?"

His tone was neutral, hinting at neither approval nor disapproval. Normally I would have _some_ idea of what he was thinking about, reincarnated or not I was still this man's son after all, and I had seen sides of him that he would have never revealed to anyone else. Yet for the life of me I had no idea what he was thinking.

Hiashi has been acting strangely this whole time. He had always been a logical person, practical and conservative in his approach, the type to only rock the boat when the benefits greatly outweighed the risk. Something that I had always understood and approved about him. But when I decided to ditch the first day of the Academy and barged into his office dragging a confused Naruto in tow, he didn't raise so much as a single word of complaint.

Even when I told that I wanted to crash at Naruto's for the next couple of days he said nothing, just calmly watching me as I spoke, the only sign of his surprise was the slight quirking of an eyebrow. He simply called a clan meeting with the Elders, had me repeat my request after Kou had given his report, before quickly granting me his approval.

I had come expecting a yelling war to get what I wanted, but he didn't raise so much as a single complaint. He even went as far as siding with me when the Elders had naturally protested my request, shutting down all of their objections.

What was Hiashi thinking, and when had he changed so much?

"You do understand what this means?" He turned his calm eyes on Naruto before setting them back onto me, "Your actions will have repercussions, many that I will not be able to protect you from. Knowing this, will you still continue?"

"Of course." I answered resolutely, "In my entire life, had I ever regretted my decision once I made up my mind on something?"

"No," There was something in his voice, a flicker of emotion that I could not quite decipher. "No, you haven't." Hiashi searched my face, looking for something, before slowly nodding. "Very well, you have my blessing. You may leave, but you are to return in two days at the latest. And I expect you to attend the Academy from now own, any more unapproved absences will no longer be tolerated. Understood?"

One of the Elders, unable to restrain himself any longer, had step forward to voice his disapproval, "Hiashi-sama you can't seriously be planning to allow-" only to immediately stop when Hiashi raised a hand.

"Now, go Hikaru." Hiashi commanded. "Leave before I end up changing my mind."

I didn't need to be told twice. Quickly lifting my backpack and throwing it over my shoulder, I grabbed a confused looking Naruto by the scuff of his jacket, who yelped in indignation at my manhandling him, and began dragging him away.

Yet even as I quickly made my way to the gate, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I had missed something important in our conversation. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't figure it out and I had no intention of staying long enough to find out, not when there was the real chance of Hiashi regaining his senses and changing his mind.

The last thing I heard as I walked out of the gate was little Hanabi yelling out an adorable '_Bye-bye_'.

* * *

The courtyard was silent as everyone watched the young Heir walk out of the compound, dragging the loudly protesting Jinchuriki behind him. No one was willing to speak and break the silence for the next several minutes, not until both boys were well and truly out of sight and hearing.

Hizashi was the first to speak.

Stepping forward he turned to his face older brother. "Is this truly wise Hiashi-sama? To let Hikaru-sama spend so much time alone with the Kyuubi child?

"This time I'm in full agreement with your brother Hiashi." The Elder that stood immediately to Hiashi's right spoke up. Like most of the Elders he was an aged man, well past his prime, but that did not mean he was frail by any means. Though his face was wrinkled and his faded brown hair was thinning, it was clear that the body beneath his robes was still solid and strong. He carried himself with a grace that belied his age, his footsteps light and silent.

As their father, Takehiko bore a great resemblance to both of his twin sons, something that would not doubt only continue to grow as his children aged.

Now turning to his eldest, he bestowed on him a disappointed frown. "I fear you may end up regretting this decision Hiashi. Hikaru is no ordinary boy, in the entirety of our Clan's history, there had never been one that had shown as much promise and raw potential as he does. Not even you could compare when you were a child. For you to risk him in such an endeavor," Takehiko slowly shook his head in clear disapproval, "What could have possessed you to do such a thing?"

The former Clan Head sighed, "I'm sorry my son, but I cannot support you in this. I had held my tongue, as you are now the Clan Head, but I must implore you to give us a reason for your decision. For I fear that neither I nor the others can restrain ourselves from interfering. The Clan cannot afford to risk a genius of Hikaru's caliber, not over something like this."

If their words had any effect on him, Hiashi did not show it. He simply continued to steadily stare straight ahead, looking at the direction his son had departed, before finally he released a breath.

"A genius…huh?" Hiashi's eyes seemed to lose their focus, his voice turning oddly melancholic. "…Yes, perhaps there is no better word to describe my son."

Hiashi began to descend the stairs, his father and brother quickly tailing after him, leaving the rest of the Clan along with any prying ears behind them. When he reached the bottom, Hiashi continued walking in the same steady pace towards the compound gates.

"I used pray to the Gods to grant me a strong child. Before Hikaru's birth, when my wife was still pregnant, I would pray every day." His eyes turned forlorn before Hiashi raised his gaze up to the sky as they walked. "I had wished for a strong and powerful Heir. Only now that I had my wish granted, do I realize that perhaps I should have wished for a kind one instead."

"Hiashi?" Takehiko looked puzzled by his successor's words.

"My son," Hiashi paused in his steps to turn and face Takehiko, "he scares me father. I love him but I'm frightened of my own son."

"Hiashi," Takehiko turned his confused eyes to Hizashi, who shrugged in return, just as perplexed as he was. "What are talking about?"

"So you haven't noticed. I should not be surprised I suppose, he hides it well." Hiashi resumed his trek towards the open gates. "Hikaru, he is simply too talented, too skilled. Abnormally so. He learns so fast and understands so much, far too much to be normal. Not even when Hatake Kakashi was a child did he learn as fast as Hikaru does."

"And what's wrong with that?" Takehiko appeared perplexed by what Hiashi was saying. "You make it sound as if my grandson's progress is a bad thing. If anything you should be proud of yourself for raising such a talented son."

"Ah, but that's the thing father, I never taught him anything. Not a single thing." Hiashi flashed his father a ghost of a smile, "I played no hand in Hikaru's education, he has always taught himself everything he needed to know. Reading, writing, etiquette. Even the Byakugan, something that by all rights he should have needed a help to awaken, he did it entirely on his own."

"As expect of my grandson," In contrast to Hiashi's grim mood, Takehiko nodded proudly at his grandson's accomplishments. "He truly is a genius. I look forward to see how he will mature. We an Heir like him, our Clan's future will surely be a bright one."

"A genius?... It would be good if that were the case."

Takehiko turned an angry eye at his son, finally reaching the limit of his patience. "Hiashi, what are you rattling on about? What is wrong with Hikaru exceeding his peers?"

"Prodigies are all like that." Hizashi, sensing a potential fight brewing between his father and brother, decided to step in. "What others need to be taught they figure out on their own. I have seen Neji do same; he learns skills and technique simply by watching other train. Even I'm astounded by what he can do at time."

Hizashi gave his elder sibling a concerned look, "Brother, forgive me if I'm stepping out of bounds, but are you sure you're not worrying yourself over problems that are simply not there to begin with?"

"If only that were the case," Hiashi sighed and gave his head a slow shake, "but no, I fear that this is something more than my imagination."

He halted his steps as they finally reached the entrance to the gate, his father and brother standing on either side of him. They all stopped talking for a moment to take in the sight of the village of Konoha sprawling before them.

"Tell me, father, brother, have either of you ever seen Hikaru laugh? I mean really laugh, an open and care-free one like you would expect to hear from any child."

"Of Cou-" Takehiko stopped in mid-reply, a surprised expression on his face as he tried and failed to think of such an occasion.

Hiashi gave his father a rueful smile. "Neither have I." Before looking away, "Perhaps he does in fact laugh but if so, then is it not strange that I have never heard my own son laugh? I never realized it until after Hanabi was born and my wife pointed out to me how much she laughed compared to when Hikaru was a baby. It was only then that it became painfully clear to me just how abnormal my son really is."

Hiashi sighed, "It was then that I decided to keep a closer eye on him, and it did not take me long to grasped that there was something seriously wrong with my son. There is a part of him that is so cold, so very unforgiving. I catch glimpses of it from time to time, when he thinks no one is watching, and it is something that I never wish to see in any child, let alone my own.

"The boy had no real friends to speak of. It is not that he is shy or even afraid, he simply does not care. Neji is the only child his age he is willing to talk to, and even then Neji had to follow him around for the better part of a year to make Hikaru open up to him.

He has no wish to make any friends, no interests or hobbies. To him there is only training, and the degree of passion he has for it is almost frightening. The way he keeps pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion time and again without any encouragement, it is as if he is driven by something. Sometimes when I watch my son train I think that there is a hunger burning inside him, driving him to train, and like a fire, it only grows the more he tries to feed."

Hiashi turned to face both his father and brother, "I had only heard about one person acting this way before, another child prodigy. One that was also hailed as an unprecedented genius, who went by the name of Orochimaru."

"HIASHI!" Takehiko yelled out furiously, insulted on behalf of his grandson. "Comparing Hikaru to that poisonous snake Orochimaru, that's taking things too far!" And he was not alone in this opinion, Hizashi quickly jumping in to support him.

"Brother, I have seen how he treats Hanabi. Hikaru adores the girl. You can't tell me you don't see it? And for all of their differences even Neji loves your boy. He himself has told me that he feels that Hikaru is the only one his age that can understand him. He would not feel that way if Hikaru truly did not care for him."

Hiashi nodded in agreement. "Yes, and that is precisely why I still believe that my son is not lost to us, not yet. That he can still bring himself to care about others gives me hope, that something could be done to cure him from whatever aliment plagues his mind and heart."

"That is why you sent him to the Academy." Hizashi breathed as he began putting the pieces together. "In all ways that matter Hikaru is already a Genin, everyone in the Clan knows that. Yet you still commanded him to spend the entire six years in the Academy even over his instructor's objections. You did it to help Hikaru."

"Yes," Hiashi nodded to his brother, "if my son were to carry on as he is, he will break. What Hikaru needs the most right now is not more training or even experience. No, what Hikaru truly needs is to learn to how to be happy, to care. It is such a simple thing, but for all of their intellect it is often the simplest of things that geniuses often fail to comprehend."

"Let me get this straight Hiashi." The look on Takehiko face was one of pure incredulous disbelief, "You sent Hikaru to the Academy…to make _friends?" _

The edge of Hiashi's lips quirked at his father's tone of voice. "While I wouldn't have put it quite like that myself, yes, essentially that is exactly what I did." Hiashi sighed and turned an imploring look on his father.

"You must remember father, that for all of his intelligence Hikaru is only six years old, and as foolish as it makes me sound I believe above everything else what my son needs right now is a friend. I had hoped that by exposing him to a new environment with many children his own age, he may eventually end up making some, and perhaps learn how to behave like a child for once. I must admit, though it was my own plan I had little hope for it actually working, not this quickly at least."

Hiashi shook his head, a wry smile on his face, "That boy has always managed to surprise me. I had only sent him to the Academy this morning, only for him to come barging back in not an hour later, dragging a blond-haired child by the hand behind him. Then before I could get so much as a word in he asked permission to sleep over at his new friend's place.

"If I had any less control over myself I'm not sure if I would have whooped for joy at my son finally finding a friend or bash my head into the wall that he chose to befriend the Jinchuuriki of all things. And while I would rather he had chosen anyone else, that child is still better that than leaving Hikaru as he is."

"There is also the matter of Hikaru-sama's…confrontation with the Uchiha children." Hizashi reminded.

"A minor incident," Hiashi waved his hand as if swatting a fly. "I will naturally reprimand him on his conduct upon his return but the boy is still but a child. No one will take the actions of a six year old seriously. This event will be remembered as nothing more than a child acting out because he was nervous at his first day at school, if it is even remembered at all."

Takehiko examined at his eldest son's face for a moment before sighing. "Very well." He looked into his successor's eyes, "I will support your decision in this, as the Clan Head and his father it is your right to decide how to best raise the boy. But make no mistake Hiashi, this does not mean I agree with your assessment about my grandson, I'm only siding with you on this because I believe it would be beneficial for Hikaru to make friends among his peers."

"Thank you Father." Hiashi nodded to the man. "And for what it's worth, I hope I'm wrong about Hikaru too." Now that the more sensitive parts of the conversation was over, Hiashi began leading them back into the compounds.

"The Hokage is going to want an explanation for all of this. You know how protective he is when it comes to the Jinchuuriki. He no doubts believes that we had ordered Hikaru-sama to befriend the child." Hizashi commented.

Hiashi nodded with a sight, "I know, I'll go talk with-"

"No Hiashi, I'll be the one to talk to him." Takehiko cut his son off. "That old monkey owes me more than a few favors from over the years, and I believe the time has come to call him in on them. I foresee no trouble getting Sarutobi to agree to the arrangement; I just have to convince him that this would be a good thing for both of the children. No, it is not the Hokage that will be the problem; it's the other Clans that you have to concern yourself about. None of them are going to be happy about us getting close to the Jinchuuriki."

"Yes, that's true. And that is something I'm going to have to deal with myself. This is going to be a long day." As they walked past Kou, Hiashi snatched the flask out of his hand just as he was about to take another sip, before he took a long deep swallow from it himself. "Tell me Father, when we were children, did we ever cause you so much trouble that we drove you to drink?"

Takehiko let loose an uncharacteristic belly shaking laugh, "Boys, drop by my room tonight and I'll show the hidden stash that I started building when you two learned how to crawl."

* * *

Something are always the same wherever you go. Whether in this universe or next, show me a city and I'll show you a bunch of people all packed closer together than sardines. And while Konoha was certainly called a village, in almost every way that mattered it was a city.

The streets were crammed with bodies, filled with all different kinds of people. Some were clerks rushing to work, others were the early morning shoppers off to the markets in search of a good deal and there was even the occasional Ninja mixed in with the crowd, either patrolling the street or were simply out for a stroll. They crowded the street, so closely packed in together that all you had to do was swing your arm out and odds are you'd smack someone in the face.

Well, except for the area directly around us, which was conspicuously empty of people.

By all rights we should have had a hell of a time navigating through the crowds; one of the many disadvantages of being six years old again. Do you have any idea how hard it is to push through a group of fully grown adults when you were only three and a half feet tall? It was like walking through a herd of elephants, one mistake and you'd get stepped on.

Today however I did not face that problem, the crowd parted before us, like the Red Sea before Moses, leaving a bubble of space around us. While I had seen this happen quite often whenever my father would take me with him in a trip through the village, his status along with his intimidating appearance assured that, but he wasn't with me this time.

Naruto was.

There was no hatred in their eyes. No anger or loathing, not even a hint of disgust could be found anywhere in their stares.

There was just fear.

It radiated off them like heat from a fire, terror so strong that I saw more than a few people trembled as we pass them by. I could feel their wide anxious eyes on our back, cautiously following us until we were out of their sight.

The Kyuubi was never kept a secret in this world.

Sarutobi, as the recently reinstated Hokage, had chosen a completely different approach to his counterpart. Instead of trying to keep the population of Konoha blind and ignorant about Naruto's status as Jinchuuriki, he tried to educate them instead.

No surprise that someone who was dubbed 'The Professor' by the Ninja community was the type of man who believed in the power of knowledge over ignorance. He educated Konoha not on just fate of the Kyuubi that day, but on what it meant to be a Jinchuuriki.

He held nothing back. He explained about the sealing process, how the Tailed Beasts can never be killed only stopped for a time, and only by sealing them away in a jinchuuriki – a _human sacrifice_ – and only through that sacrifice they can ever be safe from the Kyuubi's wrath.

Only the knowledge about Naruto's father was never revealed, but other than that nothing was kept secret. His mother, his heritage as the Uzumaki Heir, even that Senju Hashirama's wife, Uzumaki Mito, was the original Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was not kept hidden. He had been especially adamant in making sure that everyone understood that the Kyuubi and Naruto were not one and the same, that though they existed in one body they were two complete separate and distinct entities.

He honestly believed that if people understood that Naruto was not the Kyuubi, merely its jailer, they would see him not just for the burden he carried, but as the boy and hero that he was.

Sadly, he was right. Just not in the way he had hoped.

For all of the shocking information that they had just been told, the people of Konoha did not doubt their Hokage. Sarutobi had been their leader since before most of them had even been born, and he was loved and trusted by them like no other. So they believed him when he told them that Naruto was not the Kyuubi.

They had even acknowledged that for his sacrifice of caging the beast, Naruto was to be treated as a Hero and he had been afforded all the rewards his status deserved. That Naruto's apartment building was located in one of the top districts in the entire village was proof of that.

Yet for all of his wealth, he was still treated like a leaper.

The villagers understood very well that the Naruto was not that Kyuubi; it only lived in his belly. That only lines of ink drawn on skin were what kept at bay. That the Kyuubi can never be killed only imprisoned, and only for a time. They knew that no seal was infallible, no prison inescapable, that there existed no chains that can hold the Nine-tailed fox at bay forever.

They knew that somewhere within him, the Kyuubi lived, every patient, waiting for its chance to escape, just like it did with his mother before him.

And when that day comes, it will want revenge.

Konoha remembers all too well the last time the Kyuubi walked the earth, the scars and wounds it left behind were still fresh in their minds. No one wanted to be anywhere near him when that happens.

So yes, they had given him his due, rained on him both praise and glory, and granted him more money than he could spend in a single lifetime, yet they had also bestowed on him more loneliness and solitude than any child deserved.

Like I said before, Heroes were nothing but martyrs. Pain and misery were their only rewards.

And while Sarutobi's plan had failed I could not blame him for his logic. Keeping Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki a secret was as stupid as it was impractical. Jinchuuriki had existed for centuries, and it was a well-known fact that Uzumaki Kushina was the previous Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. And while she may not have been loved, neither was she feared.

Well, not for her status as a Jinchuuriki at least. Her temper on the other hand gave people more than their share of reasons to fear her. Had Sarutobi tried to hide Naruto's status, it would have only been a matter of time till the truth came out.

Even in the original timeline he hadn't bothered to keep it a secret, not really. He only tried to prevent people from talking about it so that their prejudice would not spread to the next generation. And we'll all know how well that worked out.

That is why, despite walking through a crowded street, neither one of us ever came within arm's length to anyone else. Though I wanted to, I could not find it in me to hate them for their fear, not when I had seen more than a handful of people grasp at missing limbs or scars of badly healed wounds, no doubt mementos from the Kyuubi.

It is easy to blame them, to call them cowards when the Kyuubi was just part of children's fairy-tale, nothing but a cartoon. It became much harder when I had placed flowers every year on the graves of my relative who died by its hands that day.

I spared a quick glance over my shoulder to check up on Naruto, worried how he was taking all of this and…and…and he wasn't even paying attention to them was he?

I thought that it was weird that he was being so quite. He's been practically bipolar ever since our fight at the Academy. At first he would give me looks of suspicion and distrust mixed in with carefully guarded hope.

Then when I dragged him home he wouldn't stand still, he kept jumping from place to place in excitement, talking a mile a minute, only to suddenly stop, turning oddly quiet the next second, looking almost shy and refusing to meet my eyes when I tried talking to him, before switching back over to excitement and repeating the whole thing all over again.

And by the looks of things the blond tyke was back to his quiet phase. He was silently trailing behind me, staring down at where I held his hand in mine, an odd almost disbelieving look on his face.

"Naruto." I called out to him, but he just ignored me and continued to stare down at out clasped hands. "Naruto, can you hear me?" Nope, still nothing. Sighing, I reached out and flicked him on the forehead, "Hey Kid, wake up."

"Ow! What was that for?" Finally snapping out of his little trance, Naruto rubbed his forehead while glaring at me. Though I didn't fail to notice how he still wouldn't let go of my hand. "And why do you keep calling me a kid? You're not any bigger than me."

"That's because I was born with an old soul kid. Now," I stopped at a crossroad, "which way did you say your apartment was again?"

"It's that one right over there. Come on, let's go." And I swear the kid must have been bipolar because his glare was instantly switched out with a bright smile, and the next thing I knew I was all but lifted off my feet as Naruto rushed ahead, pulling me along with him.

And _geez_ was this kid strong, I swear I almost felt my shoulder dislocate from the strain, it was like being pulled by a runway horse. It was at that moment I began to understand the downside of befriending someone this hyperactive.

Note to self, keep Naruto away from sugar.

* * *

"Tada~~~" Naruto threw the door wide open and proudly waved me into his apartment.

The human-rocket, that is affectionately known as Naruto, had ran the entire three miles to his apartment building, tearing through the entryway doors, not even slowing down as he ran past elevators in favor of rushing up the stairs.

The little I had been able to see on my way up here however told me a lot about the place. The expensive wallpaper, impeccably clean corridors and most importantly the elevators, a luxury in Konoha, told me that the rent of the place must have been expensive. Something that reassured me to say the least.

One of the primary reasons why I had so strongly insisted on this 'sleep over' was because I want to examine Naruto's living conditions. So very little is known about Naruto's life before the start of the Manga. I knew he was isolated and lonely but that was about it. Everything else was guess work.

While I had heard many theories from fans about how he was mistreated in such but I had doubt that was the case. It was never shown in the show, and I had trouble picturing Sarutobi ever allowing something like that to happen. He'd have to be unbelievably stupid to allow anyone to provoke a Jinchuuriki. But still, just because I couldn't believe it, doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. The Hyuuga Affair two years ago taught me a harsh lesson on making assumptions.

I had to make sure. Just to be safe. But to be honest, I didn't expect to find anything bad.

Which is why what I saw came as a total shock.

It felt as if someone had punched me in the gut when I got my first glimpse of Naruto's apartment.

"Oh…my…God," The words spilled unbidden from my mouth as I stared in horror at the living room. Stepping forward, being careful not to set my foot in the puddle of spoiled milk split on the ground, "What the hell happened?"

The entire place had been vandalized.

I couldn't even the see the apartment's hardwood floor beneath the ocean of trash that flooded the ground along with almost every conceivable surface. Bits and pieces of half-eaten food were tossed around every corner of the room while graffiti covered the walls, ruining what once could have been beautifully colored wallpapers.

Most of the furniture was wrecked. I spotted what may have once been an elegant green sofa piled up in one side of the room, its insides gutted and its white stuffing spilled onto the floor around it. In another corner was a stack of dirty clothing with a bucket of spilled paint dripping onto the floor next to it.

This…this was worse than I had ever imaged. What kind of people would allow a child to live in a dump like this? There is-

-Wait! Wait-wait, no, this isn't right. Something is wrong here, this is all wrong. Naruto wasn't supposed to be abused or mistreated. He was supposed to be filthy rich for god's sake, why would they allow him to live like this? Did I miss something, was…was I wrong about everything?

"Naruto," the horror I was feeling was clear in my voice as I kept staring in the room. Dear lord was that a broken unicycle on the kitchen counter? "What happened?"

"Huh?" Naruto crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes in confusion at me. "What's wrong with you?"

"Your apartment, who did this to it?"

"Ahh," The blonde's eyes widen with comprehension before he scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that. I kinda got a bit excited about the Academy last night and couldn't sleep, so I may have over did it a bit. Ah, but don't worry, the cleaning lady will be here in a couple of days to fix it up."

"Cleaning lady?" I parroted stupidly at him as I felt a suspicion take root and grow in me. "…Naruto, who was the one who did all of…" I didn't have the words to describe the state of the apartment so I just waved a hand around the room, "_this?"_

"Hmm? Me, of course." Naruto looked at me as if I was asking the obvious, "Who else could it be?"

"You mean the graffiti on the walls, the trash on the floor, the ruined sofa," I looked up as something caught my eye, "and the tomato sauce on the ceiling, all of it was you? Why do even have tomato sauce in the ceiling, how did it get up there?"

"Tomato sauce?" Naruto glance up at the large splatter of red on the ceiling, "Oh, that's not sauce. That's just my blood."

I gaped at the madman in the shape of a six year old boy as he crossed his arms proudly before him. "I'm going to regret asking, but _why_ do you have your blood splattered all over the ceiling?"

Naruto puffed out his chest. "Ninja training."

"Ninja training." I echoed, feeling my confusion only grow the more he talked.

"Yup," He nodded, "You know how Ninja's can jump high, really high. Like, from the ground to over a building high. Well, I was practicing my jumping."

"And what, you jumped so high that you bashed your head on the ceiling?"

"Nah, turns out I couldn't jump anywhere near that high." Naruto looked embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his head, though over what I wasn't sure. "That's why I had to use the springs from the Sofa to help me." He pointed to the gutted Sofa in one corner, where an assortment of springs lay spilt on the floor around it.

I raised a finger, a retort on my lips, before I stopped and just face-palmed. It was quickly beginning to dawn at me, that this boy… was an idiot. I was so used to dealing with Neji that I forgot that not every child our age was as smart as him. That even all the Chakra in the world flowing through your brain could stop someone from begin stark raving mad.

"Alright, then what about the rest of this. Why do you have graffiti on the wall?"

"Graffiti?" He looked confused. "What's are you taking about? What's wrong with my drawings?"

"Drawings?" I turned to look back at the wall and realized that, yes, what I first took for graffiti was in fact drawing. Children drawings to be more precise, made with crayons and paint. "The unicycle?"

He shrugged. "It looked like fun. Turned out it wasn't."

Frustrated I pointed at the floor, "The huge ocean of trash?"

"Ah…aha…ahahaha," He awkwardly laughed and scratched the back of his head. "About that. Well, like I said the cleaning lady hasn't been over today so no one had the chance to clean it up."

"And when exactly was that last time this cleaning lady came over? Last year?"

"No, she comes over twice a week." He tilted his head and frowned, "in fact she was here yesterday morning."

"Yesterday?" I looked around the room that had more in common with a trash heap than a living room. "And what? Did she see this mess and run?"

"Of course she didn't. She may not be very friendly but she works really hard. I swear it's almost like magic watching her clean, by the time she finishes the place always looks brand new."

It took me a few moments to process what he was saying, and I had to ask him to clarify because there is no way he said why I thought he was saying. "Naruto," I made sure to speak slowly, pronouncing each word carefully so that there is no possibility of a misunderstanding, "are you trying to tell me, that you made all of this," I threw my hands out to indicated what I meant by 'this', "in a single day. After the lady had just finished fixing the place up?"

"Yup." The madman nodded proudly, before frowning. "Though I don't think the cleaning lady minds. She cleans it every time and never complains. Though I don't think she likes me very much."

Of course she doesn't like you, you lunatic! How she can resist the urge not to bash your skull in with a broom if she had to clean this place up twice a week I do not know, but she much have a patience of a saint.

Oh my God, now I get it! Naruto, he's basically a rich spoiled kid isn't he? One that was never taught to his make his bed or tidy up his room because the maid will clean it up for him the next day.

No one ever tried to discipline him for making a mess have they? I mean who will? No one wants to piss off the kid the with the killer demon fox in his belly, well other than the Hokage. But seeing as he is probably the only person who is even remotely nice to Naruto, he probably can't bring himself to be strict with the kid and risk aliening him more than he already is.

For most of my past life I had to raise both of my sons alone. Which meant not only was I responsible for raising them properly, but cleaning after their messes as well. And it didn't take me long after becoming a single father to twin boys to learn to hate, no _utterly loath _it when they made a mess. And looking at the pigsty that Naruto called a home, I felt something snap in me.

Without thinking both my hands clamped down onto Naruto's the shoulders. "Naruto," I tried smiling at the boy but it must have come out wrong because I saw his eyes widen before he tried to lean as far back away from me in my grip as he could. "We are going to clean this place up alright? And I don't care if we're here until sunrise, neither you nor I are going to stop cleaning until this place is spotless, understand?"

"What, why?" He whined out and pouted at me, "Why can't we just leave it for the cleaning lady to-"

"_**CLEAN-NOW-UNDERSTAND**_!"

"Sir, Yes Sir!" The blond shot straight up and saluted, before flying off to the supply closet.

Nodding in satisfaction, I turned around to face the garbage filled room. "Hello my old enemy," I spoke to the messy room, "we meet again."

* * *

"Hey Naruto." Pausing halfway through my sweeping, I leaned on my broom as a thought occurred to me.

"What?" He grumbled from where he stood by the wall. He had a wet rag in his hands that he was using to clean the paint off the walls, a bucket of water by his feet. To my surprised it was actually working.

I had at first feared that the wallpaper was unsalvageable and had to be replaced, but it seems that the stuff was waterproof or something because it remained undamaged even when scrubbed with soap and water. I guess they must have swap out the regular wallpaper for this kind after they realized that Naruto would just keep ruining them.

I ignored his tone. He's been in a sour mood for the last hour or so since we had begun cleaning, at least he wasn't giving me the silent treatment anymore. "I've just realized, this is place a Shinobi-only complex isn't it?"

I hadn't noticed it at first, seeing as I was all but dragged up here at the speed of sound, but I don't recall seeing anyone in the apartment complex other than Ninjas.

"Yeah, and what about it?" He frowned at a particularly stubborn spot of paint that refused to be scrubbed off.

"Nothing, it's just the first time I've ever been in one." I remember Kou pointing out places like this to me before. They were actually rather common in Konoha. Shinobi tended to had trouble mixing in with civilians, in particular those who fought in wars, and many found it simpler to live among their own kind. Or at least that's what Kou tells me- _Oh Shit, Kou!_

_ Where the hell is Kou!?_

In my panic I quickly glanced around me in hopes of spotting my errant bodyguard, as if he would magically appear in the apartment. Naturally there was no in here but Naruto and me. I had forgotten Kou at the compound! Oh shit, I was in so much trouble.

One of the single iron-clad rules that I had to obey is never leave the compound without an escort. Ever! As one of the few Hyuuga without the Caged Seal I was a prime target for kidnapping, and my father would rip me in two if he find out I was running around without a guard of some kind.

Wait- wait a second, calm down. Wasn't Hiashi there when he sent us off? He knew that it was only me and Naruto, so why didn't he stop us? Surely he must have realized that Kou wasn't with us by now and sent him after us.

Then where was he? Was Kou simply staying out of sight? With the Byakugan it's not like he needed to be in the same room to keep a close eye on me.

Quickly I turned on my Byakugan and an entire unseen world was now revealed to my eyes. Over a hundred unfamiliar Shinobi-class Chakra signatures popped out from every direction, no doubt the other residence of the building. I immediately ignored Naruto's, which shone far too brightly than any untrained child should have, and quickly began searching for Kou.

Were it anyone else, I would have had trouble spotting his Chakra signature in a place filled so many others for him to blend in with, but Kou was an exception. There was a reason why he was chosen to become my guard at such a young age, and even among so many other signatures, Kou would have stood out like a grown man in a children's playground.

Kou's Chakra supply was exceptionally large, even by Shinobi standards. His would blaze like a campfire surrounded by candle in my eyes, even with the other Shinobi nearby.

It didn't take me more than a heartbeat to spot it, the unusually high Chakra signature coming from above and behind us. He was on the rooftop of one of the neighboring building, directly across the street from Naruto's. Crouching down on the railing like a bird of prey, he silently watched us even through the walls- _Wait a minute_, that wasn't Kou!

While this man's Chakra supply was large, easily matching Kou's in size and more, his signature was completely different. To my eyes Kou's Chakra always appeared like calm flowing water, a common hereditary trait among the Hyuuga, while this man's Chakra crackled and sparkled like bottled lightning.

There was no way that this was Kou or any other Hyuuga, I would have remembered a Chakra signature as unusual as this. But there was no doubt that he was watching us, even though his mask I could see the way his single eye tracked our forms.

I admit, I might have been a bit more terrified that an unknown, and potentially powerful, ninja was watching us had it not been for the Anbu mask he wearing. That his mask was carved in the shape of a dog only further relieved me.

Kakashi lazily waved a down at me, letting me know he knew I had spotted him. That there was a wall blocking his line of sight to us and that I wasn't looking anyway at general direction only served to confirm what I had already heard about his skill as a Jounin, and his reputation as a showoff.

"Hey Naruto, did you know that-" I paused when Kakashi raised a finger to his lips in a 'shushing' gesture, while raising the thumb of his other hand to one side of his neck before he slowly dragged it across his throat.

"Do I know what?" Naruto paused scrubbing to glance over his shoulder.

"Nothing," I quickly replied and resumed sweeping, hoping that he didn't notice how pale my face is, "Nothing at all. Don't worry about it."

Naruto gave me a perplexed look before shrugging and going back to cleaning the wall, grumbling under his breath all the while about stupid walls and stupid bug-eyed boys.

Now I knew Kakashi was bluffing, or at least I hoped he was. Kakashi would never kill me, not over something like this at least. But if history repeated itself, then there was the very real possibility that Kakashi could end up as my Sensei in the near future. And there was no way I wanted to get on his bad side.

This was the guy who allowed Genin, fresh out of the Academy wet behind the ear Genin, to help him fight _the_ Momochi Zabuza, a A-rank missing-ninja, after only teaching them the tree walking exercise… and nothing else. And that was when he _liked_ them. God knows what he did to kids that he hated, but I sure as hell didn't want to find out.

So I continued my cleaning, all while pretending that I wasn't under the watchful eye of a highly trained killer who had been murdering people since he was five years old.

* * *

"You know," Looking down at the half-filled garbage bag that I was holding open, "I'm actually quite surprised. I haven't seen so much as single instant ramen cup anywhere, and here I thought this place will be filled with the stuff."

It had been several hours since we started cleaning up the place and we were nearing the end, and I have to say, the place was completely unrecognizable. Underneath all of the trash this place really was a first class apartment, far better than any apartment I had ever lived in my previous life.

Though it only had a single bedroom, it was huge, probably design for a couple to share. It had a full kitchen with all the 'modern' equipment along with a well-stocked pantry – the so called cleaning lady apparently doubled as a cook, and would leave several meals for Naruto to eat throughout the week – and it came with a living and dining area.

The place's bathroom also came with a bathtub, and I don't mean one of these cramped ones you'd find in Japanese apartments but one with a bathtub so large that several fully gown people could squeeze in with room to spare.

"Ramen?" Naruto sounded confused as he dumped one of the last remaining pieces of trash into the garbage bag. "What's that?"

I stared at him in disbelief, so shocked that I barely noticed bag slipping through my nerveless fingers. "You…You don't know what Ramen is?" Even to my ears my voice sounded off. I walked up to Naruto and held him by his shoulders. "You're not lying, are you? You really don't know what Ramen is?"

"N-No." Naruto answered, sounding a bit nervous, "I'm…I'm sorry, I guess?"

"No, no my boy. You have nothing to be sorry about. This is a wonderful, wonderful thing." And it really was too. I can't believe I'm going to have the chance to cut this addiction in the bud. "Now listen carefully to me." I brought my head closer to him as if I was about to part with a secret. "Ramen is a horrible food. It's fatty, unhealthy, basically pure junk food that would only weaken your potential as a Ninja. But it has a curse on it. There are some people who only need to take a single sip of the stuff become instantly addicted, and will never stop eating it. Ever."

"Really?" He asked wide-eyed.

"Really." I nodded solemnly. God I love gullible five-year olds. They make it so much easier for me to manipulate them. Plus it's not as if I was lying. Ramen may actually be addictive drug as far as the Uzumaki are concerned. "Which is why, for your own good, I want you to promise me that you will never, ever eat ramen. Please Naruto, you have to promise me this, this is important."

"Ok, I promise." Naruto nodded once, his face as earnest as I had ever seen it. And I had no doubt he meant it.

It took everything to keep my face straight and not ruin the serious moment my breaking out in cheers. YES! Yes I can't believe I did it! Mentally I dropped down to my knees and raise my hands to the sky. Yes! No more ramen, no more meals consisting of only instant cup ramen! I had too much of that crap in college and now I never have to eat those disgusting things ever again. Thank you of merciful god!

Oh this is fantastic. Wait, does this mean if I act early enough, I can stop Naruto from developing some of his more annoying bad habits. Like the horrible orange jumpsuits that he insists on wearing? Oh Dear Lord, does this mean I can stop him from saying that Dattebayo crap every other sentence. That's fantastic! I better get on it right away before-

"I will never ever eat ramen for the rest of my life Hikaru, _Dattebayo_."

…Oh fate you vindictive son of a bitch! Or was it irony I should be cursing? Ah well, I guess I shouldn't be greedy. One miracle is more that I had ever hoped for. You know what, I think this calls for a celebration.

"Hey Naruto," I shot a quick glance towards at the pantry, I was pretty sure he had all the ingredients in stock. "How about I cook us dinner as a reward for all of our hard work?"

"You can cook?" he asked, giving me a dubious look.

"Of course I can cook. Not only can I cook, I know the secret recipe for the greatest food in existence. It is the food of the Gods my friend. The food of the Gods."

"Really?" Naruto was actually hopping on his toes in excitement, "What it's called?"

I shot the hyperactive blond a smile, "It's called pizza."

* * *

"That-" Naruto had to stop and release a large belch, "…That was really good."

"Yup," I smirked as the blond leaned back on his seat with a satisfied groan and patted his stomach. "And thatis why pizza if the _real_ food of the gods."

It was amazing how little variety of food they had in this world. I mean I could understand it if they didn't have the ingredients to make it but that wasn't the case. They simply never thought of so many of the different recipes I took for granted back home, in particular western-style food.

Pizza being the prime example. They had cheese, bread and tomatoes but no one ever thought to combine the three together. Though it wasn't as big a hit with my family as it was with Naruto, who had gobbled up three full sized pizzas.

"***Burp* **Amen." The miniature black hole leaned back into his chair, his face entirely covered with sauce and bits of cheese that he had spilled over himself in haste to eat.

Sighing in half exasperation and half amusement at the boy, I stood up from my seat and made my way around the kitchen table. Picking up a couple of napkins on the way, I walked up to Naruto and grabbed him by his chin.

"Hey-what?" he squawked as I began to wipe the tomato sauce that covered his mouth and most of his face.

"Hold still." I ordered, "I'm trying to clean you up, so stop moving."

Naruto instantly obeyed, shutting his eyes in displease as I wiped his face, though he couldn't stop squirming in his seat the entire time.

"There, finished." I gave his face a quick look over and nodded, satisfied that I had gotten everything. "See, that wasn't so bad now was it you big baby?"

"No but it was still annoying." He crossed his arms and pouted.

I rolled my eyes, "Ok enough of that now." I pulled Naruto up to his feet and pushed him towards the bathroom. "Go and take a bath, you need it. And don't worry about the kitchen, I'll stay back and clean it."

"Alright, alright already." He yawned as he made his way to the bathroom, complying without putting up a fight. Either too tired from all the cleaning or simply too mellowed out after the meal.

"Now that were are alone again," I turned to face the mess I left in the kitchen after cooking, a demented grin on my lips, "are you ready for the second round my enemy?"

With all the servants in the compounded I never had to clean up in my life, not in this one at least. I had forgotten how satisfying it was to see something dirty transform into something clean and organized.

Not ten minutes later I was done, nodding proudly to myself as I examine the kitchen. The place was spotless and not so much as a single item out of place. Perfect.

Sighing, I placed my hands on my back and stretched, before turning to join Naruto in the bath. That was something you'd never have seen me do in my past life. I was as body shy as they came but I had that habit long beaten out of me.

Nudity, at least towards the same gender, was not a bit deal here, quite the opposite. I was forced to learn to let go of my body shyness pretty quickly when my dad kept taking me to the hot springs but in the end the reward was worth it.

I have to tell you, hot springs are to die for. The first time I went to one after a hard workout, I honestly thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was that good. Though I could have done without the bunch of naked men that filled the place, after a while I no longer noticed them anymore.

Picking up a towel and a change of clothing on the way, I slid the bathroom door open and stepped in, quickly shutting the door behind me to stop the steam from escaping.

"Huh-Hikaru!?" Naruto called out from behind the screen that separated the changing area from the bath. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it in one corner before I began to unbutton my pants. "I'm joining you."

"What!" He Yelled. "But you can't do that! I'm not dressed!"

"Of course you're naked, who the hell would take a bath clothed?" I rolled my eyes at his behavior as I finished undressing. Stepping up to the screen I slid it open and stepped in before shutting it behind me.

Naruto let out a high pitched embarrassed squeak upon seeing me before dropping deeper into the water, so that everything but his head was submerged and hidden from view.

"Oh stop being so shy will you?" I snapped at the boy, exacerbated by his overreaction. I walked up to the bath, on the opposite side he was in and stepped in. The water was nice and really hot, just the way I liked it. I released a sigh as I dropped into the water, submerging myself to my shoulders, before leaning back and resting my head on the bathtub's ledge as I relaxed, shutting my eyes to fully enjoy the experience.

After a few minutes of relaxing, I noticed how awfully silent the place was, and peeked opened a single eye to check up on Naruto. I barely bite back a sigh when I saw how nervous and red-faced Naruto was, almost as if he was trying to hide himself in the water. "Oh for the love of -You're a man aren't you? Then man up!"

"No, I'm not!" Naruto exclaimed while vigorously shaking his head.

"Semantics." I waved his concerns away. Boy, Man, same difference. For a guy who will someday happily run around as a naked woman in public, he was awfully body conscious as a child wasn't he? "Really, I never figured you as the shy type-"

I paused and stopped speaking as I caught sight of something unusual in the water. I looked down at it before blinking. Then I blinked again, and once more to make sure. But nope, nothing change. Feeling completely bewildered and not understanding what I was seeing, I slowly raised my eyes to look at the utterly red-faced Naruto, who had by now submerged himself up to his nose in the water.

"Hey Naruto." I asked, feeling more perplexed and confused than I could ever remember being. "What the hell happened to your dick?"

* * *

And that was how I learned that Naruto was in fact a girl.

* * *

**AN: I find it the greatest of ironies that Canon Hiashi wanted a strong and powerful Heir but got Hinata instead, while this one had his wish granted only for him to end up wishing for a kind one instead. Really Hiashi, maybe you'd finally be happy if Hanabi was your first born.**

**Too many parents in the reincarnated stories never notice anything weird about their kids. No matter how hard you try you cannot pretend to be a completely normal child. There would always be flashes of your true nature shading all your actions. And when the person in question is jaded, or even broken, then it becomes all too apparent that there is something very wrong with your child. – Hiashi noticed, and it terrifies him. He doesn't love his son any less for it but he can no longer pretend that Hikaru is normal.**

**One more chapter till the end of the arc, and I'm REALLY looking forward to writing it because it will have one hell of a plot twist that I hope none of you will see coming (I'm pretty sure no one had something like this before) and should kick-start main part of the story.**

**Be sure to tell me what you thought of the chapter and thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5: New chapter

**New chapter out under new name "****A World full of Monsters****"**

**First, Calm down!**

**I am not dropping this fic, in fact the new chapter is already out at 9000 words under the new name for this story "****A World full of Monsters****", so if you want you can ignore the rest of this message and start reading it there, just start from chapter 3 which would be the 5 chapter of this story (the story should be up in a couple of minutes after I post this). **

**For those of you still reading let me explain why I'm doing this.**

**I feel that I screwed up at the start of this story. My first chapter was too short (less than 1,500 words), the summary seemed to put people off and I made a few minor mistakes that I wish I could take back. So I'm going to go back and fix some mistake and re-post the story under the new name. Oh it's not a rewrite or anything, I'm only changing a couple of minor lines, so you guys can continue were you left off without missing anything – just start reading from chapter 3.**

**I'm really sorry for any trouble I caused you and I really appreciate you guys putting up with me.**

**Oh, and for all of you following/favorite this story, please be sure to switch to the new one because I plan to delete this story soon. Thank you.**

**Again, thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.**


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